A telecommunications system uses a packet switched network to provide communications capabilities to mobile devices. Base transceiver stations (BTSs) on the network communicate with mobile devices in their respective coverage areas. User media exchanged between the mobile devices and the BTSs are encoded in the mobile devices' native formats. The BTSs encapsulate the user media in a packet-based representation and send it to the other endpoint of the session via the network. A media gateway interfaces with telephone networks and converts media between the native formats of the mobile devices and the native formats of the telephone networks. A softswitch provides session processing and media connection signaling and switching via control signals encoded in a packet-based representation and sent to the BTSs and/or media gateways via the packet switched network.
