A Satellite Radio Access Network includes a base station for communicating with standard compliant user equipment (UE) via a satellite having a field of view. A network broadcasting signal is provided via an inactive or access beam covering a plurality of cells in the field of view. An access request is detected from a user device, such as a smartphone, within an area covered by the inactive beam. In response to the access request, a beam is transitioned from inactive to active to provide network access to the user device. Once the user device is out of range, the active beam is transitioned back to an inactive beam. An inactivity timer is used to detect an idle active cell that should be transitioned to an inactive cell.