Virtual mobility anchor for network sharing

A method performed by a virtual mobility anchor network element implemented at least partially in hardware and communicatively coupled to a plurality of packet gateway (PGW) nodes relating to a plurality of mobile network operators (MNO), the method comprising:

• allocating a first internet protocol (IP) address for a mobile device;
• routing IP traffic to the mobile device using a first PGW node, of the plurality of PGW nodes, associated with a first MNO, of the plurality of MNOs;
• and
• receiving an IP address allocation request for the mobile device relating to a second MNO of the plurality of MNOs, and in response triggering a handover of the mobile device from the first MNO to the second MNO, the handover comprising:
• modifying routing for the mobile device from the first PGW node to a second PGW node associated with the second MNO, wherein after handover the virtual mobility anchor network element is configured to route IP traffic to the mobile device using the second PGW node.

A mobile virtual network comprising:

• a home subscriber server (HSS) implemented at least partially in hardware, the HSS comprising a database of subscribers and, for each subscriber, information about authorized cellular networks each subscriber is authorized to connect to, the HSS configured to:
• receive a request for authentication of a user equipment (UE) to connect to a cellular network from a mobility management entity associated with the cellular network;
• and
• determine that the UE is authorized to connect to the cellular network;
• and
• a virtual mobility anchor network element implemented at least partially in hardware, wherein the virtual mobility anchor network element is communicatively coupled to a plurality of Internet gateway nodes relating to a plurality of cellular networks and is configured to:
• allocate a first Internet Protocol (IP) address for the UE;
• route IP traffic to the UE using a first Internet gateway node, of the plurality of Internet gateway nodes, associated with a first cellular network, of the plurality of cellular networks;
• and
• receive an IP address allocation request for the UE relating to a second cellular network of the plurality of cellular networks, and in response trigger a handover of the UE from the first cellular network to the second cellular network, the handover comprising:
• modifying routing for the UE from the first Internet gateway node to a second Internet gateway node associated with the second cellular network, wherein after handover the virtual mobility anchor network element is configured to route IP traffic to the UE using the second Internet gateway node.