A method for controlling an idle mode in a mobile station comprises transmitting an idle mode request message to a serving base station to enter the idle mode. The method also comprises determining whether a skip threshold parameter has been exceeded, the skip threshold parameter associated with a number of paging intervals to pass before receiving a paging message with a mobile station identifier of the mobile station. The method also comprises transmitting a location update request to a base station if the skip threshold parameter has been exceeded, the location update request configured to update the location of the mobile terminal with respect to the base station.