The posts and telecommunications code defines an independent network as a network that is shared or used for a private purpose It "is for private use, if use is reserved for the physical or legal person that set it up, and it is for shared use if use is reserved for several physical or legal persons which have set up one or several closed user groups, in order to exchange communications within that same group" ART clarified this definition by adding that a CUG must be "based on a community of interest that is stable enough to be identifiable and that predates the creation of the network" The term 'closed user group' is also used to define a virtual private network on a public network
Often pertaining to voice services, wherein a private network is used to carry intercountry or intracountry voice between locations within an organization