The present invention provides geographically fixed
receiver functionality for subscriber information which specifies the subscriber's identity in a mobile
telecommunications system. This is achieved in accordance with the present invention by associating the Subscriber Identification Information (SII) with a fixed geographical reference point rather than with a particular device. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention the access point lies outside the radio
telecommunications system. In this embodiment, the control signals of the mobile
system must be transmitted right up to the subscriber's premises. In a further preferred embodiment the access point lies in the radio
telecommunications system. In the latter embodiment, the control signals of the mobile telecommunications system may be terminated in an access node which may be conveniently located in a wired
base station. In this embodiment, the control signals of the mobile telecommunications system are not transmitted to the customer premises. Also, the voice coding typically used in mobile telecommunications systems may be terminated at the access node and not at the customer premises. In another embodiment of the invention, the functions of the access node of the previous embodiment is shared between an access
base station and a responder on the customer's premises. The responder is capable of responding to certain inquiries initiated in the
wireless network, e.g. to provide subscriber identity information or to provide the result of an
encryption algorithm carried out on a random number supplied from the
wireless network.