The present invention utilizes a "small-world" network architecture, in which a relatively small number of random cross-links of nodes or vertices in a network can result in small characteristic path lengths, for the transfer of messages between modes or vertices in a telecommunications/computer network regardless of their location. The "small world" principle is usually considered to apply to many biological and social networks, as these systems generally exhibit properties that are not completely regular or completely random but somewhere in between. The present invention applies this small world principle to telecommunications/computer networks.