llu

LLU stands for Local Loop Unbundling, a regulatory mechanism in telecommunications that requires incumbent operators to provide access to the local loop—the physical line that connects a subscriber’s premises to the telephone exchange—to competing service providers. By granting access to the last mile, regulators aim to foster market competition for voice and broadband services without requiring entrants to deploy their own full infrastructure.

In practice, an entrant uses wholesale access to the local loop to offer services to end users. Depending on the arrangement, this can involve the entrant maintaining its own customer equipment at the premises or within the exchange and then reselling services over the incumbent’s copper or fiber link. LLU can be implemented as full physical unbundling of the loop or through virtual arrangements such as bitstream access, where the incumbent maintains control of the physical line while supplying service data to the competitor.

Types and related concepts include full unbundling (the entrant uses its own equipment on the local loop) and sub-loop or sub-architectures, where unbundling occurs deeper in the network. Bitstream access is sometimes used as a lighter, virtual form of access that does not require unbundling the physical line.

Regulatory context varies by country but is most associated with European policy, where directives and national regulations encourage LLU to promote competition, drive infrastructure-sharing, and lower consumer prices. Price terms, service levels, and access conditions are typically set or overseen by national regulators. The approach has supported a range of broadband providers in markets historically dominated by incumbents, though it also raises considerations around investment incentives and network maintenance.