---
title: What is Internet Middle Mile?
description: What is internet middle mile? Get an overview of the middle mile network segment, types of providers, and use cases in a presentation from Principal Analyst Erik Kreifeldt.
image: https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/2021/Blog%20Assets/steel-3419985_1280.jpg
---
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# What is Internet Middle Mile?
##### By [Jayne Miller,](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/jayne-miller) Mar 05, 2021
[WAN](https://resources.telegeography.com/tag/wan) [Cloud](https://resources.telegeography.com/tag/cloud)
With the middle mile emerging as one of the next major topics of interest for global enterprises, we thought it would be useful to develop a comprehensive explanation of this new market segment.
## What's the Definition of Middle Mile?
Broadly, we outline the middle mile like this:
- **Last mile:** Local access connects an enterprise location to the nearest colocation facility. Traffic may cascade through local aggregation points.
- **Middle mile:** Switching and transport that shepherds traffic between the local access colocation and the cloud service provider network.
- **First mile:** This is the cloud provider or other destination network. Traffic is now on-net with the application host.
In other words, the middle mile refers to the segment of network infrastructure that lies between the core network of a telecommunications operator or internet service provider (ISP) and the local network that directly serves end-users (the "last mile").
It's the crucial link that aggregates traffic from various last-mile networks and transports it to the high-capacity backbone of the internet.
## What Problem is the Middle Mile Trying to Solve?
We wrote all about this [over here](https://resources.telegeography.com/what-problem-is-the-middle-mile-trying-to-solve).
There are some notable use cases for middle mile, as vendors look to optimize traffic flow, provide discrete circuits, offer flexible commercial terms, and enable agile deployments.
Middle-mile providers distinguish themselves from telcos by offering more flexible transactions, simplified pricing, agile provisioning, user-friendly portals, and transparent network performance visibility.
However, middle-mile operators face challenges, including limited reach compared to global telcos and reliance on other telcos for last-mile connectivity. Despite these challenges, telcos remain capable and are the incumbent option, especially with their integrated access networks and established infrastructure.
### What Do Real-World Middle Mile Use Cases Look Like?
Coevolve CTO Ciaran Roche visitied our podcast to discuss just this. Ciaran explores how middle mile solutions are selected to solve real-world enterprise WAN issues. ⬇️
#### Jayne Miller
Jayne Miller is TeleGeography's Director of Operations. She has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and creative strategist.
[View Jayne Miller Work](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/jayne-miller)
## Explore Related Content
###### Podcast Episode
May 10, 2021
#### [I'm Just the Middle Mile Man](https://resources.telegeography.com/middle-mile-trends-interview-consulting-analysis-cloud)
[Read Full Article](https://resources.telegeography.com/middle-mile-trends-interview-consulting-analysis-cloud)
###### Podcast Episode
Dec 13, 2022
#### [The Digital Divide Episode](https://resources.telegeography.com/the-digital-divide-is-a-nationwide-issue)
[Read Full Article](https://resources.telegeography.com/the-digital-divide-is-a-nationwide-issue)
###### Podcast Episode
Mar 22, 2022
#### [How Do You Solve a Problem Like Middle Mile?](https://resources.telegeography.com/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-middle-mile)
[Read Full Article](https://resources.telegeography.com/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-middle-mile)
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