In all, there will be 48 data centers as well as a 270, 000 route mile fiber network.

FORBES: Savvis: A $3.2 Billion Deal -- in the Cloud

This concentration could get even worse, for WorldCom is trying to acquire Sprint and its 30, 000-mile fiber network.

FORBES: Backbone Bullies

Government ownership of roadways is rife with problems, to be sure, but the case for government-operated roads is much stronger than that for government-operated last mile fiber connections.

FORBES: Telecommunications And The Public Use Principle

It started as a small-scale local phone service, but he has since expanded it to include a 16, 000-mile fiber backbone, a fat slice of nationwide cellular radio spectrum and a major Internet access provider.

FORBES: Craig's Higher Calling

Due to what Gilder calls "regulatory sclerosis, " demand for last-mile broadband fiber is going unmet in the United States.

FORBES: Wi-Fi's Wobbly Future

Thompson's ultimate goal is to build a 5, 500-mile regional fiber network sprawling across Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

FORBES: Fiber in the sagebrush

Perhaps most important, digital wireless is prying open the biggest bottleneck in tech--that "last mile" between speed-of-light fiber-optic networks and the zippy insides of your PC.

FORBES: Magazine Article

They claim to have a magic box, a variation of a telecommunications switch that can eliminate the bottleneck known as the Last Mile, that final stretch of cable, fiber or copper into homes.

FORBES: Forget the Garage

They claim that they will have a magic box of telecommunications hardware and software that can eliminate the bottleneck known as the Last Mile: the final stretch of cable, fiber or copper into homes.

FORBES: Forget the garage