A communication system formed by a private wireless network that can be used with public wireless networks using a public wireless protocol, such as GSM, and typically includes public networks, such as PSTN, ISDN and the Internet, using a wired-packet protocol, such as IP. The private network also typically includes a local area network (LAN) and the private network typically connects to the public networks using the wired-packet protocol, such as IP. The public and private wireless networks operate with the same public wireless protocol, such as GSM, and the private wireless network additionally operates with the wired-packet protocol, such as IP. In this environment, multiple wireless cells are present and inter-cell handovers employ multiple protocols including the wired-packet protocol.