Section: 4.1 Composition of the Location Area Identification (LAI)
Content: The Location Area Identification shall be composed as shown in figure 3: Figure 3: Structure of Location Area Identification The LAI is composed of the following elements: - Mobile Country Code (MCC) identifies the country in which the GSM PLMN is located. The value of the MCC is the same as the three digit MCC contained in international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI); - Mobile Network Code (MNC) is a code identifying the GSM PLMN in that country. The MNC takes the same value as the two or three digit MNC contained in IMSI; - Location Area Code (LAC) is a fixed length code (of 2 octets) identifying a location area within a PLMN. This part of the location area identification can be coded using a full hexadecimal representation except for the following reserved hexadecimal values: 0000, and FFFE. These reserved values are used in some special cases when no valid LAI exists in the MS (see 3GPP TS 24.008[ Mobile radio interface Layer 3 specification; Core network protocols; Stage 3 ]  [5], 3GPP TS 31.102[ Characteristics of the Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) application ]  [27] and 3GPP TS 51.011[ Specification of the Subscriber Identity Module - Mobile Equipment (SIM-ME) interface ]  [9]).