Route summarization is the opposite of subnetting. It takes a group of smaller networks and unites them as one big network or several bigger networks. The main purpose of route summarization is to reduce the amount of entries in the routing table of core routers.
This is essentially the problem we have on our internet backbone routers. There was no real thought to the design of the addressing scheme; the routing tables had entries that they really did not need to know. Internet backbone routers have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of entries in their routing tables.
This is most definitely a problem, since it could potentially crash your routers. Your core routers are meant to pass information quickly from one campus to another or from one company to another. They could also pass in information from one building to another, no matter the media. It...