Patent ID: 6836471
Filing Date: 2004-12-28
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
A method of inter-operator handover in a mobile telecommunications network comprising a first operator of a first sub-network operated in a wideband code division multiplex access (WCDMA) mode having a plurality of first radio coverage areas, and a second operator of both a second sub-network and a third sub-network, wherein the second sub-network is operated in a radio frequency in accordance with the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) mode having a plurality of second radio coverage areas partly overlapping with the first radio coverage areas, and the third sub-network is operated in the WCDMA mode having a plurality of third radio coverage areas, and wherein the handover is performed for a mobile terminal of the first operator between the first and second operators when the mobile terminal is located in an overlapped section of the first coverage areas and the second coverage areas, said method comprising the steps of:providing a first list of first radio coverage areas visible to the mobile terminal for the mobile terminal to access the first radio coverage areas through the first sub-network when the mobile terminal moves into the first coverage areas; and providing a second list of second radio coverage areas to the mobile terminal, wherein the second list includes only one or more of each of the second radio coverage areas among the second radio coverage areas of the second sub-network and the third radio coverage areas of the third sub-networks of the second operator, so as to allow for the mobile terminal to access the second radio coverage areas of the second operator through the second sub-network while preventing the mobile terminal from accessing the third radio coverage areas of the second operator when the mobile terminal is located in the second coverage areas beyond the first coverage areas.