Patent ID: 7596107

Claim:
An apparatus for enabling a service in a network environment, comprising: a gateway general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (GGSN) operable to: establish a communication link with an end user; receive signaling information through the communication link, the signaling information comprising an access point name (APN) identifying the end user; recognize that the end user belongs to a designated multicast service group; correlate the APN to the multicast service group to provide one or more multicast services to the end user; store the correlation between the APN and the multicast service group in a table within the GGSN; inform a network element to send any packets designated for the multicast service group to the GGSN; receive a plurality of packets designated for the multicast service group from the network element; and determine the APN correlated to the multicast service group to forward the plurality of packets to the end user.