Public mobile data communications network

A method comprising:

• configuring a public mobile access data network to provide public data access between an Internet and a mobile node which is attachable to various points of the public mobile access data network over a radio interface;
• providing multiple home agents coupled to a backbone of the Internet;
• providing plural foreign agents coupled to the home agent for communicating with one or more mobile nodes;
• configuring plural home agents as a virtual home agent network for one of the mobile nodes;
• and
• one of the foreign agents serving the mobile node sending registration messages to all home agents in the virtual home agent network;
• wherein the home agent and foreign agent routers communicate using a mobile internet protocol (IP) and a tunnel that includes a label switched path using multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), wherein the home agent and foreign agent are label switched routers at the ends of the label switched path, and wherein the label switched routers encapsulate incoming data packets with a label, remove a label from outgoing data packets, and route data packets by swapping labels at each label switched router along the label switched path.

For use in a public mobile access data network providing a mobile node data access to the Internet and data access to the mobile node from the Internet, a first routing node comprising:

• a control entity for establishing a label switched path across the public mobile access data network between the first routing node and a second routing node;
• and
• a forwarding entity for processing and routing packets over the label switched path;
• wherein the control entity includes a mobile internet protocol (IP) controller interfacing a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) controller for setting up and controlling the label switched path.