Altitude based device management in a next generation wireless communications system

A mobile device, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
• setting a first flag in a signaling message to a first value that is indicative of a device type of the mobile device, and a second flag in the signaling message to a second value that is indicative of a distance measurement of the mobile device with respect to a reference datum;
• transmitting to network equipment, the signaling message that comprises the first value and the second value;
• and
• implementing, for the mobile device, a power setting instruction and an operating parameter instruction received from the network equipment in response to the transmitting, wherein the distance measurement is a vertical distance measurement, and wherein the setting the second flag comprises changing an indicator in the signaling message based on the vertical distance measurement being within a defined measurement range.