Patent ID: 8630655

Claim:
A method of operation of a femtocell basestation in a mobile communications network, wherein the mobile communications network comprises a plurality of macro layer basestations, each operating in a respective carrier frequency band, the method comprising: detecting a carrier in use by at least one of the macro layer basestations, wherein the detected carrier has bandwidth, and selecting a carrier having said bandwidth for use in the femtocell basestation, based on the detected carrier in use by the at least one macro layer basestation, such that the selected carrier partially overlaps with the detected carrier in use by the at least one macro layer basestation, characterised in that: if it is only possible to detect one or more macro layer basestation transmitting on a first carrier, the selected carrier is a third carrier; if it is only possible to detect one or more macro layer basestation transmitting on a second carrier, the selected carrier is a fourth carrier; if it is possible to detect macro layer basestations transmitting on the first carrier and the second carrier, the selected carrier is a fifth carrier.