wspapers, radio, music and data merely by combinations of ones and zeroes. Of course, in order to understand the pattern you must know what standards are used: MP3, GIF, Real Player, voice coding. The common shape of digitized services is obviously an important explanation of the convergence between telecom, datacom and media. The road to multimedia is open, indeed! For economical reasons the traditional networks will not disappear over night. The new network must be 'backward compatible' with the traditional networks, to use a term from the design world. As mentioned before, the traditional network services and their new enablers and the network convergence, give us in a way enhanced traditional networks intertwined, or integrated if you like, within the framework of the horizontal networks. This makes it easier to understand the new network and the migration into it. A large advantage is that interworking becomes easier. However, later versions of the new network for multimedia differ significantly from the existing networks. The traditional data-centric networks are primarily used for computer networking in the business area. See Figure 3.10. The traditional voice-centric networks are primarily used for public and business- oriented voice calls and lately dial-up to the Internet. However, PSTN has been used Content IP (Initial position) ATM (Initial position) Frame relay Tele-centric Data-centric Figure 3.10 The starting point: tele-centric networks, data-centric networks and media industry content - no convergence Understanding Changing Telecommunications Building a Successful Telecom Business Common connectivity Voice-centric core network Other data-centric networks networks (Frame relay) Figure 3.11 The first signs of integration and convergence: multi-service application of ISDN and ATM Capacity with separate networks Capacity with multi-service networks Required capacity Saved capacity Required capacity Time of day Time of day Morning Afternoon Evening Morning Afternoon Evening Figure 3.12 When the bearer