More than 7000 city, shire and stat...

More than 7000 city, shire and state customers of Public Technology, Inc. (PTI) believe there is toughness in numbers.

Instead of shopping alone for high technology at competitive prices, these guidances are joining PTI's national technology procuration program, avoiding long and rich bid cycles on everything from telephone calls to computer

According to G2 Research, a Mountain View, Calif.-based watcher of public sector markets, local and state commands in the United States constitute a $345 billion information technology market. Last year, they topped federal technology spending according to more than $6 billion. And by way of 2001, G2 predicts their annual technology expenditures will exce $45 billion.

PTI — the non-profit technology R&D arm of the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties and the International City/County Management Association — first mereed local governments' formidable purchasing power eight years ago, when it struck a deal with telecommunications