When do I need to backup the Service Master Key?

Question

I'm reading some documentation and whitepaper about Transparent Data Encryption. Some documentation mention to backup the Service Master Key as well (For clarification I'm not talking about the Database Master Key). I just don't exactly understand why this is necessary, because I was able to backup/restore a Database with TDE Encryption from Server A (backup) to Server B (restore) without using any Service Master Key.

In what scenario do I need to restore the Service Master Key?