PROGRESS.

A Michigan telecommunications company has established three centers in Baghdad, Iraq, where Iraqis can make affordable telephone calls and send uncensored e-mail to the rest of the world.

VoEx Inc. plans to have 20 such communications centers up and running in the greater Baghdad area within two months, Executive Vice President Michael Vorce said Wednesday. The company's long-range plans include setting up cell phone and wireless networking systems in Iraq.

"The response has been excellent," Vorce said. "We've had a lot of positive feedback. We've been flooded with e-mails and phone calls from Iraqis and Arabic-speaking people from around the world, thanking us."

There are those who believe the collapse of the despotic Iron Curtain was facilitated by the free distribution of news via the Interfax news agency.

Progress indeed.