Disclosed is a method and a system for providing a terminal-based ringback tone substitute service, as well as a mobile communication terminal for the same. The method includes the steps of (a) receiving a request for an originating call for voice communication with a called terminal from a calling terminal; (b) transmitting a ringback tone start message to the calling terminal, the ringback tone start message being a control message informative of beginning of a ringback tone section; (c) paging the called terminal; (d) transmitting a ringback tone termination message to the calling terminal, the ringback tone termination message being a control message informative of ending of the ringback tone section, and connecting the voice communication between the calling terminal and the called terminal when a response to paging is received from the called terminal; and (e) transmitting the ringback tone termination message to the calling terminal and transmitting unanswered messages to the calling terminal when no response to the paging is received from the called terminal. The mobile communication terminal can play a high-quality ringback tone substitute without being affected by the voice channel environment.