A wireless communication network comprising a plurality of paging controllers capable of communication with a plurality of base stations within a coverage area of the network, wherein at least one of the plurality of paging controllers is capable of, if a mobile station within a paging area requests to enter idle mode, assigning a temporary paging identification to the mobile station, and transmitting the temporary paging identification to a base station in communication with the mobile station, wherein the temporary paging identification is used by the base station to determine an index of a paging opportunity or frame in a paging cycle to transmit a paging message for the mobile station.