Following initial call establishment negotiation to build a call context between a network and a remote unit, the base processes the header of the data packets. The base acts as an intermediate nodal point to establish call contexts with the endpoints on the traffic channels, wherein the processing of the header of the data packets is terminated at the base. The base processes only the header field that needs to be transmitted along the payload, and transfers the processed portion along with the payload. A session is then established between the remote unit and the network, and the traffic resumes from both ends.