|  | 10.1 | Importance of a Network Layer
| 10.1.3 | Communication between separate networks

The Internet is a collection of network segments that are tied together to facilitate the sharing of information. Once again, a good analogy would be the example of the highway system with the large multiple lanes that have been constructed to interconnect many geographical regions.

Networks operate in much the same manner, with companies known as Internet service providers (ISPs) offering services that tie together multiple network segments.