A new public network (NPN), in a historical telecommunications reference, is a proposed packet-based network that brings together the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and Internet technologies. It is designed to carry voice, video, and data while combining the Internet’s distributed, open approach with telephone-network ambitions for managed service quality and availability. The term describes a concept, not a verified current standard or a particular network in service.
What does “new public network” mean?
The Linktionary defines a new public network—sometimes called a next-generation network in that reference—as the convergence of the PSTN and the Internet, or Internet-based technologies, into a packet-oriented, multiservice network. In practical terms, it describes a telecommunications architecture intended to handle different kinds of communication over a shared packet network rather than relying on the traditional telephone system’s circuit-oriented approach.
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The defining idea is convergence: not merely faster Internet access, but a network architecture combining capabilities associated with both telephone networks and the Internet. The reference describes the goal as bringing Internet-style openness and distributed networking together with telephone-network expectations for quality and availability. Those are architectural aims, not guarantees about every network using packet technology.
How does the concept differ from the PSTN and the Internet?
| Aspect | Traditional PSTN | Internet model | New public network concept |
|---|---|---|---|
| Network approach | Circuit-oriented, traditionally using time-division multiplexing. | Packet-based and distributed. | Packet-oriented, with the PSTN and Internet technologies converging. |
| Communication types | Primarily telephone calls. | Supports varied data services. | Intended to carry voice, video, and data. |
| Service intelligence | Historically more centralized and carrier-controlled. | More distributed, with capabilities at network edges. | Envisions more service creation and intelligence at capable edge devices. |
| Service objectives | Telephone-network service quality and availability expectations. | Often associated with best-effort delivery. | Intends to combine openness and distribution with mechanisms for managed quality of service and high availability; the reference does not establish a performance guarantee. |
This comparison describes the architecture and objectives in the Linktionary entry, not a current, measured comparison of specific services.
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What features are associated with an NPN?
- Packet switching: information is carried in packets rather than through the PSTN’s traditional circuit-oriented hierarchy.
- Multiple media: voice, video, and data are meant to share the network.
- Open standards and interoperability: the concept favors compatible equipment and services rather than a closed, single-purpose system.
- More capability at the edge: capable devices nearer users may contribute to service intelligence and creation.
- Managed network goals: mechanisms for bandwidth management, quality of service, fault tolerance, and availability are part of the intended design.
These are features of the concept as described by the reference. They should not be read as proof that a present-day public network offers guaranteed quality of service or availability.
Does NPN refer to a current standard or one deployed network?
The available term-specific reference presents NPN as a historical and conceptual telecommunications idea. It does not establish that “new public network” is a current formal standards definition or the official name of one particular deployed network.
Related historical usage does not settle the question. A 2002 patent application titled “Scalable open-architecture telecommunications network for voice and data” uses the related name “New Public Communications Network” for an architecture with application, call-control, and transport or infrastructure layers. That is an example of related terminology, not evidence of an industry-wide definition.
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Why does the phrase depend on context?
“New public network” can appear in a different regulatory context. The European Union’s historical Commission Directive 88/301/EEC refers to “new public network termination points” in a provision concerning user access and publication of physical endpoint characteristics. That phrase concerns network endpoints; it does not define the NPN architecture described above.
For a reader encountering the term in a telecommunications glossary, NPN most likely refers to the proposed PSTN–Internet convergence concept. In a regulatory document, read the surrounding text: “network termination points” may refer to physical access points rather than a packet-network architecture.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Source definition
“The ‘new public network’ or ‘next generation network’ as it is sometimes called, is the convergence of the PSTN (public switched telephone network) and the Internet (or at least Internet-based technologies) into a new network that is a packet-oriented, multiservice (voice, video, data) network.”
Source: Linktionary, “NPN (New Public Network)”.
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