evolving new core, the 'all-access network'. The all-access network becomes a dis- tributed gateway between the different accesses. People with a telecentric background may possibly regard the new core networks as huge group switches. Introduction On the other hand the access chapter is closer to standardized systems than other chapters in the book. It could therefore be useful to have an early look at this chapter when reading the book. The overall management of the paradigm shift implementation is a challenging task, and different approaches are possible. Leading telecom operator managers recommend much more business-oriented thinking at the expense of focusing on the very latest hyped services. When appropriate, the book applies a business-oriented view in line with this statement. Can the shift be measured? Of course not, but a way to make the change more concrete is to write a book and compare its content with the previously issued books, written five to seven years ago. Another approach is to use a traditional thoroughly tested network design course from the 1990s and apply its sequence of tasks to the environment we have today. After working with both the vertical and the new multimedia network the conclusion is clear: It is a paradigm shift. The network course mentioned above is called 'The Middleton case study'. It covers everything from a business plan to a fairly complete high-level network design that sup- ports the business plan. The case study extended over five days and was attended by operator managers and planning staff from all over the world. Within Ericsson the main target group was marketing staff, managers and 'system engineers'. The case study focus, as well as the focus of this book, is on functions, not products. The choice of technology in the case study was a pragmatic one, based on what best served the business plan of a specific actor in his specific environment. There are no dedicated chapters in this book on specific systems, although UMTS has been used a number of times to exemplif