The public telecommunications network is a network of networks, no matter which type of subscriber access (wireless, wireline, Internet, etc.) is supported. What the reader has discovered is that public networks (and even some private networks) need to be interconnected in order to have subscribers of one network (a service provider) reach subscribers of another network (a service provider). The tools needed to plan a network are actually the same for all service provider types. Knowing and understanding the simplicity and similarities of the networks should ease the concern of any network manager who is building and operating his or her own telecommunications carrier. Until recently, the LEC was the heart of all public telecommunications. The changing regulatory and market environments have enabled many other types of carriers to view interconnection and to recognize their place within the network of networks.

The fact is that any carrier can be at the center of the network of networks. What matters is your perception and how you act on that perception.