Method and system for controlling admission in mobile communication networks, related network and computer program product therefor

A method for controlling admission of calls to a mobile communication network having cells associated with at least one determined threshold level of operation suitable for managing cell shrinking phenomena. The method includes the operation of detecting call requests from a cell edge affected by such cell shrinking phenomena, variably exceeding the determined threshold level in uplink. A method for admitting calls to the mobile communication network in both uplink and downlink on the basis of the evaluation of the actual system load is also proposed. Preferred application is in UMTS mobile networks.