Methods and apparatus for triggering and synchronizing a machine type communication (MTC) device are described. MTC devices may operate in a time controlled mode, where the MTC device attaches to a network at specified intervals to report to a network. The time controlled mode may include two time controlled cycles, a reporting cycle and a control cycle. Methods are also described for communicating the reporting and control cycles between the MTC device and the network or MTC server. These cycles may be communicated on an application layer, by an MTC server using an MTCsp interface or via MTC configuration. In addition, triggering cycles may be sent via the Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) layer by extending discontinuous reception (DRX) cycles or by allowing a network to send the cycles over a broadcast channel by defining new System information block (SIB) information.