Local Loop
In telephony, a local loop is the physical wire connection that reaches from the telephone company’s central office (CO) to the customer premises, whether that be a home or a business. Traditionally, the local loop was used only to carry analog signals for voice, but with today’s modems we can use DSL and ISDN over the same lines.
Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) is a telephony term that means the owner of the local loop (Incumbent Local Exchanger Carrier or ILEC) must offer its copper lines to other telecommunications operators for leased use. They must do this in accordance with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was created to spur competition and block monopolies from forming in the telephony business.
