The
next-generation network (
NGN) is body of key architectural changes in
telecommunication core and
access networks. The general idea behind the NGN is that one network transports all information and services (voice, data, and all sorts of media such as video) by encapsulating these into
packets, similar to those used on the
Internet. NGNs are commonly built around the
Internet Protocol, and therefore the term
all IP is also sometimes used to describe the transformation of formerly telephone-centric networks toward NGN. The concept of
future Internet refers instead to how the Internet itself might evolve.