Reporting in communications systems

1. A method of measurement reporting activation in a network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, at a home subscriber server, consent information;

receiving, at the home subscriber server, an IMSI-based activation request;

checking, by the home subscriber server, whether at least part of the activation request applies to a subscriber for whom consent information consenting to measurement reporting has been provided;

wherein, based on the checking, one of the following is carried out: if consent information consenting to measurement reporting has been provided, enabling the IMSI-based activation request so that measurement reporting in respect of that subscriber may take place; and

if consent information consenting to measurement reporting has not been provided, the home subscriber server rejects the IMSI-based activation request before the IMSI-based activation request is sent to a mobility management entity and as a result the IMSI-based activation request is not sent to the mobility management entity.

2. A method according to claim 1 in which, if consent information consenting to measurement reporting has been provided, the home subscriber server identifies a mobility entity with which the subscriber is registered.

3. A method according to claim 2 in which, the home subscriber server sends the activation request to the mobility entity which is then able to route the activation request to a relevant base station control functionality which is serving the subscriber.

4. A method according to claim 1 in which, if consent information consenting to measurement reporting has not been provided, not enabling activation request in order for measurement reporting in respect of the subscriber may take place involves sending the activation request and carrying out measurements but not associating the measurements with an identifier of the subscriber.

5. A method according to claim 1 in which the consent information is provided to a first network element and then additionally provided to a second network element.

6. A method according to claim 1 in which the activation request is enabled by associating measurement data with an identifier of the subscriber.

7. A home subscriber server, the home subscriber server being capable of:

receiving consent information;

receiving a measurement reporting IMSI-based activation request in a network;

checking whether at least part of the IMSI-based activation request applies to a subscriber for whom consent information consenting to measurement reporting has been provided;

if consent information consenting to measurement reporting has been provided, enabling the IMSI-based activation request so that measurement reporting in respect of that subscriber may take place; and

if consent information consenting to measurement reporting has not been provided, the home subscriber server rejects the IMSI-based activation request before the IMSI-based activation request is sent to a mobility management entity and as a result the IMSI-based activation request is not sent to the mobility management entity.

8. A communication network comprising a management system, a home subscriber server, and a radio access network element, wherein the home subscriber server is capable of:

receiving consent information;

receiving from the management system a measurement reporting IMSI-based activation request in a network;

checking whether at least part of the IMSI-based activation request applies to a subscriber for whom consent information consenting to measurement reporting has been provided;

wherein, based on the checking, one of the following is carried out:

if consent information consenting to measurement reporting has been provided, enabling the IMSI-based activation request by communicating with the radio access network element so that measurement reporting in respect of that subscriber may take place; and

if consent information consenting to measurement reporting has not been provided, the home subscriber server rejects the IMSI-based activation request before the IMSI-based activation request is sent to a mobility management entity and as a result the IMSI-based activation request is not sent to the mobility management entity.

9. A computer program product, embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising software code that when executed on a computing system performs a method of measurement reporting activation in a network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, at a home subscriber server, consent information;

receiving, at the home subscriber server, an IMSI-based activation request;

checking, by the home subscriber server, whether at least part of the activation request applies to a subscriber for whom consent information consenting to measurement reporting has been provided;

wherein, based on the checking, one of the following is carried out:

if consent information consenting to measurement reporting has been provided, enabling the IMSI-based activation request so that measurement reporting in respect of that subscriber may take place; and

if consent information consenting to measurement reporting has not been provided, the home subscriber server rejects the IMSI-based activation request before the IMSI-based activation request is sent to a mobility management entity and as a result the IMSI-based activation request is not sent to the mobility management entity.