Patent ID: 8619665

Claim:
A user equipment for a communication system, comprising: a subscriber identity module that includes an international mobile subscriber number (IMSI) having a plurality of digits; and a processor configured to determine, from only the IMSI, a mobile network code (MNC) included in the IMSI, including a length of the MNC, when the user equipment cannot know a priori whether the MNC is two digits or three digits, and the processor is further configured to generate, based on the MNC, an identifier for a service available from the communication system; wherein either the processor is configured to determine the MNC by choosing a first group of digits of the IMSI, and in response to an error indication, by choosing a second group of digits; or the user equipment further comprises a memory having a stored table of information and the processor is configured to determine a mobile country code (MCC) from the IMSI and to determine the MNC from the table based on the determined MCC.