Patent ID: 7873357

Claim:
A method of selectively enabling network services and/or network capabilities in a mobile terminal operating in a mobile communications system, the method comprising: receiving an information element encoded to indicate whether each of a number of network services and/or network capabilities is enabled or disabled; storing the information element in the mobile terminal; and prior to each request for a network service, referring to the information element and inhibiting the mobile terminal from requesting the network service if the information element indicates that the network service is disabled, and enabling the mobile terminal to request the network service if the information element indicates that the network service is enabled, wherein the information element includes a plurality of 1-bit fields, each corresponding to a different one of a plurality of network services and/or network capabilities, wherein each of the 1-bit fields is encoded such that setting the 1-bit field to one state indicates that the corresponding network service and/or network capability is enabled, and setting the 1-bit field to a different state indicates that the corresponding network service and/or network capability is disabled.