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Networking & Telecommunications vocabulary · Telecom Operators and Services

Last mile

Meaning in networking & telecommunications, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In networking & telecommunications, last mile means: The final part of a telecom network that connects the operator's local exchange or street cabinet to the customer's building; it is often the slowest and most expensive part to build.

In Turkish: son mil, son kilometre, abone erişim hattı

How it is used

Used in telecom strategy, regulation and network planning. Operators talk about last-mile access, last-mile technologies (copper, fibre, cable, wireless) and last-mile bottlenecks. The phrase is used even though the distance is rarely exactly one mile.

Example sentences

  1. The backbone has plenty of capacity; the problem is the old copper in the last mile.

  2. Fixed wireless can be a cheaper last-mile option for rural villages.

Common collocations

  • last-mile access
  • last-mile connection
  • last-mile provider
  • last-mile bottleneck
  • backboneThe high-capacity core part of a network that connects smaller networks, sites or cities and carries most of the traffic between them.
  • FTTHShort for fibre to the home: a broadband setup in which optical fibre runs all the way to the customer's home, instead of ending at a street cabinet and continuing over copper.
  • broadbandHigh-speed internet access that is always on, delivered over fibre, cable, DSL, mobile or satellite networks, as opposed to old dial-up connections.
  • ISPShort for internet service provider: a company that sells internet access to homes and businesses, usually over fibre, DSL, cable or mobile networks.
  • carrierA telecommunications company that owns or operates a network and carries voice and data traffic for customers or for other operators.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Telecom Operators and Services

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