THE NEED FOR DECENTRALIZATION AND PRIVACY IN MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS

In this paper, trends and demands on mobile communications networks ar e outlined from both a technical and a social point of view. Using the European GSM, it is shown that a continuous and appropriate structure related to privacy protection is not available today. Therefore, futu re developments, like UMTS, that are already under investigation shoul d integrate alternative solutions. Based on this, the Freiburg Communi cations Assistant, a personal assistant module to comply with demands on privacy protection, is introduced.