In general, every telecommunications network conceptually consists of three parts, or planes (so-called because they can be thought of as being and often are, separate overlay networks ):

• The data plane (also user plane, bearer plane, or forwarding plane) carries the network's users' traffic, the actual payload.
• The control plane carries control information (also known as signaling ).
• The management plane carries the operations, administration and management traffic required for network management. The management plane is sometimes considered a part of the control plane.