A network may be continuously partitioned due to high mobility, and the traditional approach to allow a mobile node to wait for the network to be fully connected (i.e. form a unique component) or to wait to be in range of the destination may lead to unacceptable delays. Furthermore, concrete applications, such as Defence and Disaster-Relief, cannot always rely on such assumptions.

Nevertheless, even if the communicating nodes may never be within the same connected component, it is important to observe that a ``communication path'' may be available over time using intermediate nodes that are temporarily within reach of each other while moving, hence making such networks viable for critical applications.

Depending on the nature of the environment, these networks are now commonly referred as Intermittently Connected MANET and Delay Tolerant Networks.