These market conditions prompt several questions: What if the local copper loop was viewed as an intelligent network (IN) element? What if we could remotely administer and manage it?

Such a tool, which will be known in this tutorial as an LMS, could be used by service providers for the purpose of maximizing the level of control they can have on the last mile of the network. For CLECs, this system would remove much of their dependence on ILECs, thereby accelerating the deployment of new technologies and guaranteeing previously unseen service levels. For ILECs, an LMS would greatly facilitate the management of a vast infrastructure that was, for the most part, never designed to support the emerging protocols and applications. It would allow them to manage loop provisioning and testing more effectively, address spectrum management issues within binder groups and cables, and, of course, automate the documentation of the loop connectivity.