lastmeter

Lastmeter is an informal term used to describe the final physical or logical segment that connects a service or infrastructure to an individual end user or device. It is derived from the broader "last mile" or "last kilometre" concepts and often emphasizes the very final metres inside a building, property boundary, or local site where service delivery must be completed.

The concept appears in multiple sectors. In telecommunications and broadband, lastmeter refers to the connection from the building entry point to the individual apartment or room, encompassing in-home wiring, Wi‑Fi distribution and customer premises equipment. In energy, it covers the metering and internal wiring that link a utility service to household circuits and smart devices. In logistics, lastmeter can mean the handover from a drop-off point to the recipient’s doorstep or apartment, including building access and final indoor delivery. In urban mobility and sensor networks, it denotes the final hop delivering data or services to end devices.

Challenges associated with lastmeter delivery include physical access constraints, heterogeneous building infrastructures, regulatory and ownership boundaries, cost of bespoke installations, interoperability of devices, and privacy or security concerns. Solutions often combine technical approaches (mesh networks, in‑home routers, smart meters, edge computing, robotics) with policy measures (building standards, service agreements) to improve reliability, efficiency and user experience. The term is used informally in planning, engineering and commercial contexts to highlight the complexity and importance of completing service provision at the user-facing edge.