Dissolution of the old order [Internet]

The frantic, sweeping change that characterized the Internet in the 20th century will seem slow and limited compared to the changes anticipated in the next 10 years (2000-2010). The old order´s dissolution will have begun, and it is not reversible. While we have seen some deregulation of the telecommunications industry, the biggest steps lie ahead. In the United States, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 still awaits, in 2000, the full impact of competition among local carriers that law makers envisioned. Around the globe, significant formal steps toward open markets and competition are planned for the first two years of the new millennium. However, if experience is a reliable guide, the full effects of today´s reforms may take the better part of a decade to make themselves felt