A CELLULAR COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, A NETWORK ELEMENT AND A METHOD OF OPERATION THEREFOR

A base station (101) for a cellular communication system, such as a TETRA communication system, is coupled to a fixed network (107) and receives text strings for transmission to remote units (103, 105). The base station comprises a receive processor (111) which receives a first text string encoded in a first encoding format. The receive processor (111) is coupled to a conversion processor (113) which converts the first text string to a second text string at least partially encoded in a second encoding format. The first encoding format may be an UTF-8 or UTF-16 text encoding format and the second encoding format may be an ASCII text encoding format. The conversion processor (113) is coupled to a transceiver (115) which transmits the second text string to the remote units (103, 105). The invention allows units using different text encoding formats to interwork and is particularly suitable for facilitating an upgrade of the text encoding format used in a cellular communication system.