As mobile networking and services are entering a new communication era offering smart phones to users with higher capabilities and more diverse applications, emerging service requirements create new challenges for the current mobile network architecture. Supporting Highly Mobile Users in Cost-Effective Decentralized Mobile Operator Networks Such new requirements partly reflect the popularity of several new services and the emerging content rich and bandwidth-intensive mobile applications. In addition, they capture the operator’s desire to offer flat rate tariffs to attract more users encouraging the adoption Supporting Highly Mobile Users in Cost-Effective Decentralized Mobile Operator Networks of new services. Such business paradigm may work great in an early phase assisting the success of new technologies, i.e. Long Term Evolution (LTE), but at a later stage it may create a rebound effect with serious revenue problems for operators. Indeed mobile operators are facing a challenging task to accommodate huge traffic volumes, far beyond the original network capacity Effectively, such new requirements challenge the current mobile network architecture, which is highly centralized, not optimized for high-volume data applications. Supporting Highly Mobile Users in Cost-Effective Decentralized Mobile Operator Networks The main problem relates to the fact that central gateways handle all mobile traffic, acting as a data and mobility anchor for several radio access points without any complementary caching or data offload support at the network edge. A straightforward solution for mobile operators is to invest in upgrading their network infrastructure in terms of backhaul speed and core network resources with the objective to always be capable to accommodate peak hour traffic demands. Supporting Highly Mobile Users in Cost-Effective Decentralized Mobile Operator Networks Whilst these are technical-wise feasible solutions, financially they are challenging, particularly due to the modest Average Revenues per Users (ARPU), given, in turn, the trend towards flat rate business models. Operators are thus interested in cost-effective methods for accommodating the ever-increasing mobile network traffic ensuring minimal investment into the current infrastructure. Supporting Highly Mobile Users in Cost-Effective Decentralized Mobile Operator Networks Network decentralization is a key enabler, which allows operators to be equipped with economically competitive solutions against increased traffic demands and flat rate charges. The basis for realizing network decentralization is to place small-scale network nodes with mobility and IP access functionalities, similar to those provided by the currently centralized gateways, towards the network edge. Such local data anchor gateways allow operators to employ solutions that can selectively offload traffic as close to the Radio Access Network (RAN) as possible.