diff --git a/lib/puppet/util/network_device/transport.rb b/lib/puppet/util/network_device/transport.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e64fe9b69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/puppet/util/network_device/transport.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# stub
+module Puppet::Util::NetworkDevice
+  module Transport
+  end
+end
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diff --git a/lib/puppet/util/network_device/transport/base.rb b/lib/puppet/util/network_device/transport/base.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1d62209cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/puppet/util/network_device/transport/base.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+
+require 'puppet/util/network_device'
+require 'puppet/util/network_device/transport'
+
+class Puppet::Util::NetworkDevice::Transport::Base
+  attr_accessor :user, :password, :host, :port
+  attr_accessor :default_prompt, :timeout
+
+  def initialize
+    @timeout = 10
+  end
+
+  def send(cmd)
+  end
+
+  def expect(prompt)
+  end
+
+  def command(cmd, options = {})
+    send(cmd)
+    expect(options[:prompt] || default_prompt) do |output|
+      yield output if block_given?
+    end
+  end
+
+end
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diff --git a/spec/unit/util/network_device/transport/base_spec.rb b/spec/unit/util/network_device/transport/base_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5d52574f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/unit/util/network_device/transport/base_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+
+require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../../../../spec_helper'
+
+require 'puppet/util/network_device/transport/base'
+
+describe Puppet::Util::NetworkDevice::Transport::Base do
+  class TestTransport < Puppet::Util::NetworkDevice::Transport::Base
+  end
+
+  before(:each) do
+    @transport = TestTransport.new
+  end
+
+  describe "when sending commands" do
+    it "should send the command to the telnet session" do
+      @transport.expects(:send).with("line")
+      @transport.command("line")
+    end
+
+    it "should expect an output matching the given prompt" do
+      @transport.expects(:expect).with(/prompt/)
+      @transport.command("line", :prompt => /prompt/)
+    end
+
+    it "should expect an output matching the default prompt" do
+      @transport.default_prompt = /defprompt/
+      @transport.expects(:expect).with(/defprompt/)
+      @transport.command("line")
+    end
+
+    it "should yield telnet output to the given block" do
+      @transport.expects(:expect).yields("output")
+      @transport.command("line") { |out| out.should == "output" }
+    end
+
+    it "should return telnet output to the caller" do
+      @transport.expects(:expect).returns("output")
+      @transport.command("line").should == "output"
+    end
+  end
+end
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