Overview#

Location Area Identity (LAI) internationally Unique Identifier is used for location updating of Mobile Device Phone subscribers.

Location Area Identity is composed of:

• Mobile Country Code (MCC)
• Mobile Network Code (MNC) - that identifies a Subscriber Module Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) in that country, and a
• Location Area Code (LAC) - which is a 16 bit number with two special values, thereby allowing 65534 location areas within one GSM PLMN.

Location Area Identity is broadcast regularly through a Broadcast Control CHannel (BCCH). A Mobile Device stores it in the SIM Card. If the mobile station is moving and notices a change of LAI, it will issue a location update request, thereby informing the Home Location Register of its new LAI. This allows the provider to locate the Mobile Device in case of an incoming call.

More Information#

There might be more information for this subject on one of the following:

• LAI
• Subscriber Identification Module