US Patent 7423986 Providing a multicast service in a communication network

Providing a multicast service includes maintaining multicast service information at an application server. The multicast service information describes a multicast service having an associated subscriber, and the multicast service is operable to deliver multicast content from a multicast source. A cell supporting a user device associated with the subscriber is determined, and creation of a bearer path for the multicast service is initiated. Delivery of the multicast content to the user device is enabled using the bearer path.