System and method for reducing power consumption of a wireless terminal and increasing capacity of a wireless communication system

A method for reducing power consumption of a wireless terminal comprising:

• receiving control messages at a base station for transmission to a wireless terminal;
• determining whether to forward the control messages to the wireless terminal based on the nature of the control messages and an operating state of the wireless terminal;
• and
• forwarding the control messages based on the outcome of the determining step,
• wherein the control messages comprise status information used by the wireless terminal to affect a status display and including the additional step of maintaining at the base station information indicative of a current status display of the wireless terminal, and wherein said step of forwarding control messages based on the outcome of the determining step comprises forwarding the chronological information only when a voice channel between the base station and the wireless terminal is active.