Techniques are discussed herein for supporting periodic or triggered location of a user equipment (UE) using control plane (CP) optimization with optional use of Early Data Transmission (EDT). A location server (LS), such as a 5G LMF, sends a request to a UE for periodic or triggered location and includes a request and/or criteria for using CP optimization. After confirming the request, the UE monitors for periodic or triggering events and, for each detected event, sends an event report to the LS which may include location information. In embodiments, the UE establishes a signaling association with a RAN node to send the event report using CP optimization and optionally using EDT. The RAN node may then release the signaling association after the LS returns a single response to the UE.