Telecommunications system and method

A method of providing a mobile communications session to a mobile node using an internet protocol, the method comprising

• communicating internet packets to and from the mobile node to provide the communications session, when the mobile node is affiliated with a home packet data network, the home packet data network including a home agent of the mobile node,
• communicating the internet packets to and from the mobile node to provide the communications session, when the mobile node is affiliated with a visited packet data network, and
• controlling the communication of the internet packets to and from the home packet data network from and to the visited packet data network using a packet data gateway, wherein the communicating the internet packets to and from the mobile node to provide the communications session, when the mobile node is affiliated with a visited packet data network, includes
• generating a binding update internet protocol data packet providing a care-of-address of the mobile node following a change of affiliation from the home packet data network to the visited packet data network,
• communicating the binding update internet protocol data packet to the home agent within the home packet data network via the packet data gateway, and
• upon receipt of the binding update internet protocol packet establishing a route for the internet packets to be communicated between the home agent and the mobile node via the packet data gateway.

An apparatus for providing a mobile communications session to a mobile node using an internet protocol, the apparatus comprising

• means for communicating internet packets to and from the mobile node to provide the communications session, when the mobile node is affiliated with a home packet data network, the home packet data network including a home agent of the mobile node,
• means for communicating the internet packets to and from the mobile node to provide the communications session, when the mobile node is affiliated with a visited packet data network, and
• means for controlling the communication of the internet packets to and from the home packet data network from and to the visited packet data network using a packet data gateway, wherein the communicating the internet packets to and from the mobile node to provide the communications session, when the mobile node is affiliated with a visited packet data network, includes
• means for generating a binding update internet protocol data packet providing a care-of-address of the mobile node following a change of affiliation from the home packet data network to the visited packet data network,
• means for communicating the binding update internet protocol data packet to the home agent within the home packet data network via the packet data gateway, and
• means for upon receipt of the binding update internet protocol packet establishing a route for the internet packets to be communicated between the home agent and the mobile node via the packet data gateway.