A communication apparatus which performs communication over a communication path configured in a network, the communication apparatus comprising: a communication means for communicating with mobile terminals and gateways on the network; a routing information database for managing associations between the gateways and communication paths, wherein each of the gateways has a function of terminating a communication path; a path identifying means that is configured to identify a first communication path to which a received packet belongs based on path identification information of the packet; and a packet forwarding means that is configured to: refer to the routing information database and, in case of uplink communication, forward the received packet to a first gateway associated with the first communication path, and in case of downlink communication, forward the received packet to a mobile terminal corresponding to the first communication path; characterized in that the routing information database is configured to manage said associations such that respective gateways terminating the first communication path and a second communication path are assigned a common address; and the packet forwarding means is configured to: i) in case of uplink communication from a mobile terminal using the first communication path, switch a gateway to which the received packet is forwarded by switching the first communication path to the second communication path, and forward the received packet to one of the at least two first gateways using the second communication path to conceal the switching of the gateway from the mobile terminal ; and ii) in case of downlink communication using the second communication path, forward the received packet to the mobile terminal using the common address. a communication means for communicating with mobile terminals and gateways on the network; a routing information database for managing associations between the gateways and communication paths, wherein each of the gateways has a function of terminating a communication path; a path identifying means that is configured to identify a first communication path to which a received packet belongs based on path identification information of the packet; and a packet forwarding means that is configured to: refer to the routing information database and, in case of uplink communication, forward the received packet to a first gateway associated with the first communication path, and in case of downlink communication, forward the received packet to a mobile terminal corresponding to the first communication path; characterized in that the routing information database is configured to manage said associations such that respective gateways terminating the first communication path and a second communication path are assigned a common address; and the packet forwarding means is configured to: i) in case of uplink communication from a mobile terminal using the first communication path, switch a gateway to which the received packet is forwarded by switching the first communication path to the second communication path, and forward the received packet to one of the at least two first gateways using the second communication path to conceal the switching of the gateway from the mobile terminal ; and ii) in case of downlink communication using the second communication path, forward the received packet to the mobile terminal using the common address. <EOS>