Patent ID: 8885613

Claim:
A method of operating a first access network and a second access network in a multi-access system, said access networks serving mobile terminals in an access area, the method comprising: selecting one of said first access network and said second access network to be set to a power-save mode on the basis of a power consumption assessment, wherein said power consumption assessment comprises an assessment of whether setting the selected access network to the power-save mode will reduce the overall power consumed by said access networks, said multi-access system, or both, while still fulfilling defined demands, requirements, or both of communication traffic in the access area; performing a steering operation for the mobile terminals in said access area, comprising sending steering information to the mobile terminals, the steering information indicating to the mobile terminals to preferably use the non-selected access network not being selected to be set to the power-save mode; and setting the selected access network to the power-save mode.