Abstract: A method of on-air registration of a cordless telephone handset with a base station, includes the steps of: arming the handset so that it can indicate that it wants to register with a base station; arming the network to enable it to accept the registration request from the handset; activating the handset to start transmitting link request words; causing the base station and the associated network to determine that the link set-up is to be used for registration purposes, causing the base station to use the handset's identity to decide if that handset has a pending registration request, and transferring into the handset the registration details over the established link.