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Last mile (telecommunications)
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{{Short description|Last leg of telecommunications delivery}} {{About|telecommunications terminology||Last mile (disambiguation){{!}}Last mile}} {{More citations needed|date=May 2009}} The '''last mile''', or '''last kilometer''', in the [[telecommunications]], [[cable television]] and [[internet]] industries refers to the final leg of a [[telecommunications network]] that delivers telecommunication services to retail [[end-user]]s (customers). More specifically, ''last mile'' describes the portion of the telecommunications network chain that physically reaches the end-user's premises. Examples are the copper wire [[subscriber line]]s connecting landline [[telephone]]s to the local [[telephone exchange]]; [[coaxial cable]] [[service drop]]s carrying [[cable television]] signals from [[utility pole]]s to subscribers' homes, and [[cell tower]]s linking local [[cell phones]] to the [[cellular network]]. The word "mile" is used metaphorically; the length of the last mile link may be more or less than a mile. Because the last mile of a network to the user is conversely the first mile from the user's premises to the outside world when the user is sending data, the term '''first mile''' is also alternatively used. The last mile is typically the speed bottleneck in communication networks; its [[bandwidth (signal processing)|bandwidth]] effectively limits the amount of data that can be delivered to the customer. This is because retail telecommunications networks have the topology of "[[Tree structure|trees]]", with relatively few high capacity "trunk" communication channels branching out to feed many final mile "twigs". The final mile links, being the most numerous and thus the most expensive part of the system, as well as having to interface with a wide variety of user equipment, are the most difficult to upgrade to new technology. For example, telephone [[telecommunications link|trunklines]] that carry phone calls between switching centers are made of modern [[optical fiber]], but the last mile is typically [[twisted pair]] wires, a technology which has essentially remained unchanged for over a century since the original laying of copper phone cables. In recent years, usage of the term "last mile" has expanded outside the communications industries, to include other distribution networks that deliver goods to customers, such as the pipes that deliver water and [[natural gas]] to customer premises, and the final legs of [[mail]] and [[package delivery]] services.<ref name="Spectrum">{{cite news |last1=Cherry |first1=Steven |title=The Wireless Last Mile |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-wireless-last-mile |access-date=26 April 2019 |work=IEEE Spectrum |issue=Special Report |publisher=IEEE |date=September 1, 2003}}</ref> The term has also been used to describe education and training providers that more tightly link individuals with job opportunities.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/25/the-last-mile-in-education-and-training/ | title= The 'last mile' in education and training | publisher= [[techcrunch.com]] | date= Jun 25, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Balcik |first1=Burcu |last2=Beamon |first2=Benita M. |last3=Smilowitz |first3=Karen|author3-link=Karen Smilowitz |title=Last Mile Distribution in Humanitarian Relief |journal=Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems |date=30 April 2008 |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=51β63 |doi=10.1080/15472450802023329 |s2cid=6063514 |url=https://www.scholars.northwestern.edu/en/publications/last-mile-distribution-in-humanitarian-relief |access-date=12 February 2019 }}</ref> In the last several years "last mile" has been used in the context of AI to refer to where algorithms require last mile customization<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fleming |first1=Martin |display-authors=etal |title=The Last Mile Problem in AI |url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-last-mile-problem-in-ai/ |website=Brookings Institution |publisher=Brookings |access-date=21 December 2024}}</ref> or human judgement.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Robbins |first1=Hollis |title=AI and the Last Mile |url=https://hollisrobbinsanecdotal.substack.com/p/ai-and-the-last-mile |website=Anecdotal Value |date=15 November 2024 |publisher=Substack |access-date=21 December 2024}}</ref>
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