The local loop is essentially the final stretch of wiring that connects a house or neighborhood to the larger regional telecom network, usually leading up to the demarcation point at the residence. While most of the lines across nations are high-capacity fiber-optic wiring, the local loop is usually copper. Hence, the local loop (or "the last mile") is usually the bandwidth bottleneck. Copper is too limited and fiber is too expensive so the first telco or ISP that can truly solve the local loop issue will surely be the winner of the broadband race.