provider router

{{MPLS diagram}}

In Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), a P router or provider router is a label switch router (LSR) that functions as a transit router of the core network.{{cite web |url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4364 |title=BGP/MPLS IP Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) |website=IETF Tools |publisher=IETF |access-date=2019-11-13}} The P router is typically connected to one or more PE routers.

Here's one scenario: A customer who has facilities in LA and Atlanta wants to connect these sites over an MPLS VPN provided by AT&T. To do this, the customer would purchase a link from the on-site CE router to the PE router in AT&T's central office in LA and would also do the same thing in Atlanta. The PE routers would connect over AT&T's backbone routers (P routers) to enable the two CE routers in LA and Atlanta to communicate over the MPLS network.