Patent ID: 7805166

Claim:
An initialization method for a mobile terminal having an Integrated Circuit (IC) card, the method comprising: determining whether a first IC card attached to the mobile terminal is replaced with a second IC card, based on a flag value stored in internal memory of the mobile terminal, in response to initialization of the mobile terminal, wherein the flag value is set to an inactive state, if the first IC card is not replaced; and the flag value is set to an active state, if the first IC card is replaced while the terminal has been in an OFF state; loading first frequency information from the internal memory and second frequency information from the second IC card, if the value of the flag is set to an active state; comparing the second frequency information with the first frequency information; storing the second frequency information in the internal memory of the mobile terminal instead of the first frequency information, if the first and second frequency information are different, wherein the second frequency information comprises at least one frequency data block comprising frequency information for communicating with at least one communication service provider; updating the flag value stored in internal memory for indicating that the second IC card has replaced the first IC card, regardless of whether the mobile terminal supports more than one IC card and changing the flag value to the inactive state, if the flag is set to the active state; searching for a cell during initialization of the mobile terminal based on the second frequency information stored in the internal memory of the mobile terminal; and communicating over the second frequency, until it is determined that the second IC card is replaced with a third IC card having third frequency information, wherein the flag value is set to the active state if the second IC card is replaced with a third IC card having third frequency information while the terminal has been in an OFF state.