1. A component part of SS7 protocol that provides additional functions to the message transfer part (MTP) to provide for Connectionless and Connection Oriented network services to transfer signaling information between exchanges and specialized centers in telecommunication networks. The combination of the MTP and the SCCP is called Network Service part. 2. The part of SS7 that provides additional functions to the MTP to cater to both connectionless as well as connection-oriented network services and to achieve an OSI-compatible network service.