ting. There are similarities, both are dependent on hardware and software but this is where the similarity ends. The mechanics of connection are more complex than the mechanics of calcula- tion. Telecommunication networks are dependent on signalling systems and protocols that took decades to develop and that absorbed thousands of man-years of international standardisation effort. SS7 signalling is one example. Cellular networks also have to develop and standardise the radio access part of the network. Adding IP protocol to fixed or wireless networks introduces additional cost and complexity. It is no surprise therefore that the companies that have enjoyed the most success in the telecom- munications industry and that are presently the most resilient are those that have managed to support long-term investments that realise long-term returns bearing in mind that the definition of long term in this context is thirty years or more. In Europe, that includes companies that have ownership and shareholder structures that give them a measure of protection against institutional shareholders focused on shorter-term returns. Telecommunications companies in command and control economies similarly can find it easier to justify thirty- to fifty-year investment returns. Whether US companies can still do this must be open to question. 12.6 Roads and Railways and the Power and Water Economy - The Justification of Long-Term Returns If we are defining telecommunications as just another transport system along side roads and railways and power and water utilities then it is reasonable to assume that the model of the last one hundred and fifty years will carry on for the next 150 years. Change occurs over decades rather than days and the return on investment is on a similar time scale. There seems to be a growing assumption that universal broadband connectivity irrespective of how it is delivered will drive future economic growth. In common with other nation states, the US and the UK have ambitious plans in place to roll out next-gener