Techniques and apparatus for supporting flexible radio access network (RAN) node identifiers in a network are provided. In one technique, a cell identity of a cell associated with a base station in a network is determined. An identifier of the base station is determined from the cell identity based on a partitioning of an identifier space used for identifying cells in the network. A message that includes at least one of the identifier of the base station or the cell identity associated with the base station is transmitted. In another technique, a user equipment may determine whether to take one or more actions while transitioning from operating in an inactive mode to operating in a connected mode based on the identifier of the base station.