Local loop: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:20, 15 June 2013

Revision as of 06:14, 26 June 2013

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In [[telephony]], the '''local loop''' (also referred to as a '''subscriber line''') is the physical link or circuit that connects from the [[demarcation point]] of the [[Customer-premises equipment|customer premises]] to the edge of the [[Common carrier|carrier]] or [[telecommunications service provider]]'s network.

At the edge of the carrier [[access network]] in a traditional PSTN ([[public switched telephone network]]) scenario, the local loop terminates in a circuit switch housed in an [[incumbent local exchange carrier]] or [[telephone exchange]].

== Infrastructure ==

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* analog voice and signaling used in traditional [[Plain old telephone service|POTS]]

* [[Integrated Services Digital Network]] (ISDN)

* variants of [[Digital Subscriber Line]] (DSL).

Many owners of local loops are [[public utility|public utilities]] that hold a [[natural monopoly]]. To prevent the owner from using this natural monopoly to monopolize other fields of trade, some jurisdictions require utilities to [[local loop unbundling|unbundle the local loop]], that is, make the local loop available to their competitors.

The term "local loop" is sometimes used for any "[[last mile]]" connection to the customer, regardless of technology or intended purpose. Local loop connections in this sense include:

*Electric power line local loop: [[Power Line Communications|PLT]] or PLC

*Optical local loop: Fiber Optics services such as [[FiOS]]

*Satellite local loop: [[communications satellite]] and cosmos Internet connections of [[satellite television]] ([[Digital Video Broadcasting|DVB]]-S)

*Cable local loop: [[Cablemodem]]

*[[Wireless local loop]] (WLL): [[LMDS]], [[WiMAX]], [[GPRS]], [[HSDPA]], [[DECT]]

*Optical local loop: Fiber Optics services such as [[FiOS]]

==See also==

*[[Access network]]

*[[Local loop unbundling]]

*[[Metallic Path Facilities]]

*[[Sub-loop unbundling]]

*The local loop is an example of [[outside plant]]

*[[Serving area interface]]