The last mile

Abstract

As we saw in Chapter 4, the primary role of a telephone access network is to provide the connections between subscribers and their local exchange. In telephone parlance, this part of the network is known as “the last mile”. As early as 1878–a mere 2 years after the invention of the telephone–Alexander Graham Bell was already speculating on the need for an access network: “It is possible to connect every man's house, office or factory with a central station, so as to give him direct communication with his neighbours .... It is conceivable that cables of telephone wires could be laid underground, or suspended overhead, connecting by branch wires with private dwellings, shops, etc., and uniting them through the main cable with a central office.”