A network device (NWE) for a digital transmission network with synchronous digital hierarchy receives data steams containing frames with data packets mapped therein and addressed by a phase reference identifier. Internally, the network device has redundant transfer paths which potentially cause different delay. The network element compensates for that delay by adjusting the phase reference identifier allocated to a respective data packet by a predetermined phase correcting value, leading in the phase, which corresponds to a maximum expected delay for transfer of the data packets on internal transfer paths, and by buffering the data packet by a buffering time such that its buffering time and its delay actually needed for passing through the network device in total correspond to the maximum expected delay taken into account by the phase adjustment.