Forget the 1984 breakup of the Bell System or the CEC's 1993 mandate to end national telecom monopolies in Europe. The real ramifications of the global telecom revolution showed up last year in a most unlikely spot: the Republic of Finland. In early 1994, the Finnish government removed all remaining restrictions on telecommunications services, opening the country to full competition. As soon as that happened, Telecom Finland Ltd. (Helsinki) got its first competition for long-distance telephony services-from Finnet (Helsinki), an association of the nation's 46 local telephone companies. Within months, Telecom Finland's share of the long-distance telephony market started to plummet, just as leased-line prices had crashed when Finnet began competing with the FIT earlier.
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