diff --git a/src/gsm/Makefile.am b/src/gsm/Makefile.am
index f85aba3..b0d6dbd 100644
--- a/src/gsm/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/gsm/Makefile.am
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # This is _NOT_ the library release version, it's an API version.
 # Please read chapter "Library interface versions" of the libtool documentation
 # before making any modifications: https://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/manual/html_node/Versioning.html
-LIBVERSION=8:0:0
+LIBVERSION=9:0:0
 
 AM_CPPFLAGS = -I$(top_srcdir)/include -I$(top_builddir)/include $(TALLOC_CFLAGS)
 AM_CFLAGS = -Wall ${GCC_FVISIBILITY_HIDDEN}
diff --git a/src/gsm/gsm0808.c b/src/gsm/gsm0808.c
index c0be374..b43e0e6 100644
--- a/src/gsm/gsm0808.c
+++ b/src/gsm/gsm0808.c
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@
 #define BSSMAP_MSG_SIZE 512
 #define BSSMAP_MSG_HEADROOM 128
 
-/*! Create "Complete L3 Info" for AoIP
+/*! Create "Complete L3 Info" for AoIP, legacy implementation.
+ * Instead use gsm0808_create_layer3_aoip2(), which is capable of three-digit MNC with leading zeros.
  *  \param[in] msg_l3 msgb containing Layer 3 Message
  *  \param[in] nc Mobile Network Code
  *  \param[in] cc Mobile Country Code
@@ -50,6 +51,27 @@
 					const struct gsm0808_speech_codec_list
 					*scl)
 {
+	struct osmo_cell_global_id cgi = {
+		.lai = {
+			.plmn = {
+				.mcc = cc,
+				.mnc = nc,
+			},
+			.lac = lac,
+		},
+		.cell_identity = _ci,
+	};
+	return gsm0808_create_layer3_2(msg_l3, &cgi, scl);
+}
+
+/*! Create "Complete L3 Info" for AoIP.
+ *  \param[in] msg_l3 msgb containing Layer 3 Message -- not modified by this call.
+ *  \param[in] cell  MCC, MNC, LAC, CI to identify the cell.
+ *  \param[in] scl Speech Codec List, optional.
+ *  \returns newly allocated msgb with Complete L3 Info message */
+struct msgb *gsm0808_create_layer3_2(const struct msgb *msg_l3, const struct osmo_cell_global_id *cell,
+				     const struct gsm0808_speech_codec_list *scl)
+{
 	struct msgb* msg;
 	struct {
 		uint8_t ident;
@@ -67,8 +89,8 @@
 
 	/* create the cell header */
 	lai_ci.ident = CELL_IDENT_WHOLE_GLOBAL;
-	gsm48_generate_lai(&lai_ci.lai, cc, nc, lac);
-	lai_ci.ci = osmo_htons(_ci);
+	gsm48_generate_lai2(&lai_ci.lai, &cell->lai);
+	lai_ci.ci = osmo_htons(cell->cell_identity);
 	msgb_tlv_put(msg, GSM0808_IE_CELL_IDENTIFIER, sizeof(lai_ci),
 		     (uint8_t *) &lai_ci);
 
@@ -86,7 +108,9 @@
 	return msg;
 }
 
-/*! Create "Complete L3 Info" for A
+/*! Create "Complete L3 Info" for A, legacy implementation.
+ * Instead use gsm0808_create_layer3_2() with the scl parameter passed as NULL,
+ * which is capable of three-digit MNC with leading zeros.
  *  \param[in] msg_l3 msgb containing Layer 3 Message
  *  \param[in] nc Mobile Network Code
  *  \param[in] cc Mobile Country Code
diff --git a/src/gsm/gsm23003.c b/src/gsm/gsm23003.c
index 95ac9f8..63de2b8 100644
--- a/src/gsm/gsm23003.c
+++ b/src/gsm/gsm23003.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
  */
 
 #include <ctype.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
 
 #include <osmocom/gsm/gsm23003.h>
 #include <osmocom/gsm/protocol/gsm_23_003.h>
@@ -66,3 +67,131 @@
 {
 	return is_n_digits(msisdn, 1, 15);
 }
+
+/*! Return MCC string as standardized 3-digit with leading zeros.
+ * \param[in] mcc  MCC value.
+ * \returns string in static buffer.
+ */
+const char *osmo_mcc_name(uint16_t mcc)
+{
+	static char buf[8];
+	snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%03u", mcc);
+	return buf;
+}
+
+/*! Return MNC string as standardized 2- or 3-digit with leading zeros.
+ * \param[in] mnc  MNC value.
+ * \param[in] mnc_3_digits  True if an MNC should fill three digits, only has an effect if MNC < 100.
+ * \returns string in static buffer.
+ */
+const char *osmo_mnc_name(uint16_t mnc, bool mnc_3_digits)
+{
+	static char buf[8];
+	snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%0*u", mnc_3_digits ? 3 : 2, mnc);
+	return buf;
+}
+
+static inline void plmn_name(char *buf, size_t buflen, const struct osmo_plmn_id *plmn)
+{
+	snprintf(buf, buflen, "%s-%s", osmo_mcc_name(plmn->mcc),
+		 osmo_mnc_name(plmn->mnc, plmn->mnc_3_digits));
+}
+
+/*! Return MCC-MNC string as standardized 3-digit-dash-2/3-digit with leading zeros.
+ * \param[in] plmn  MCC-MNC value.
+ * \returns string in static buffer.
+ */
+const char *osmo_plmn_name(const struct osmo_plmn_id *plmn)
+{
+	static char buf[16];
+	plmn_name(buf, sizeof(buf), plmn);
+	return buf;
+}
+
+/*! Same as osmo_mcc_mnc_name(), but returning in a different static buffer.
+ * \param[in] plmn  MCC-MNC value.
+ * \returns string in static buffer.
+ */
+const char *osmo_plmn_name2(const struct osmo_plmn_id *plmn)
+{
+	static char buf[16];
+	plmn_name(buf, sizeof(buf), plmn);
+	return buf;
+}
+
+/*! Return MCC-MNC-LAC as string, in a static buffer.
+ * \param[in] lai  LAI to encode, the rac member is ignored.
+ * \returns Static string buffer.
+ */
+const char *osmo_lai_name(const struct osmo_location_area_id *lai)
+{
+	static char buf[32];
+	snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s-%u", osmo_plmn_name(&lai->plmn), lai->lac);
+	return buf;
+}
+
+static void to_bcd(uint8_t *bcd, uint16_t val)
+{
+	bcd[2] = val % 10;
+	val = val / 10;
+	bcd[1] = val % 10;
+	val = val / 10;
+	bcd[0] = val % 10;
+}
+
+/* Convert MCC + MNC to BCD representation
+ * \param[out] bcd_dst caller-allocated memory for output
+ * \param[in] mcc Mobile Country Code
+ * \param[in] mnc Mobile Network Code
+ * \param[in] mnc_3_digits true if the MNC shall have three digits.
+ *
+ * Convert given mcc and mnc to BCD and write to *bcd_dst, which must be an
+ * allocated buffer of (at least) 3 bytes length. Encode the MNC in three
+ * digits if its integer value is > 99, or if mnc_3_digits is passed true.
+ * Encode an MNC < 100 with mnc_3_digits passed as true as a three-digit MNC
+ * with leading zeros in the BCD representation.
+ */
+void osmo_plmn_to_bcd(uint8_t *bcd_dst, const struct osmo_plmn_id *plmn)
+{
+	uint8_t bcd[3];
+
+	to_bcd(bcd, plmn->mcc);
+	bcd_dst[0] = bcd[0] | (bcd[1] << 4);
+	bcd_dst[1] = bcd[2];
+
+	to_bcd(bcd, plmn->mnc);
+	if (plmn->mnc > 99 || plmn->mnc_3_digits) {
+		bcd_dst[1] |= bcd[2] << 4;
+		bcd_dst[2] = bcd[0] | (bcd[1] << 4);
+	} else {
+		bcd_dst[1] |= 0xf << 4;
+		bcd_dst[2] = bcd[1] | (bcd[2] << 4);
+	}
+}
+
+/* Convert given 3-byte BCD buffer to integers and write results to *mcc and
+ * *mnc. The first three BCD digits result in the MCC and the remaining ones in
+ * the MNC. Return mnc_3_digits as false if the MNC's most significant digit is encoded as 0xF, true
+ * otherwise; i.e. true if MNC > 99 or if it is represented with leading zeros instead of 0xF.
+ * \param[in] bcd_src 	3-byte BCD buffer containing MCC+MNC representations.
+ * \param[out] mcc 	MCC result buffer, or NULL.
+ * \param[out] mnc	MNC result buffer, or NULL.
+ * \param[out] mnc_3_digits	Result buffer for 3-digit flag, or NULL.
+ */
+void osmo_plmn_from_bcd(const uint8_t *bcd_src, struct osmo_plmn_id *plmn)
+{
+	plmn->mcc = (bcd_src[0] & 0x0f) * 100
+		  + (bcd_src[0] >> 4) * 10
+		  + (bcd_src[1] & 0x0f);
+
+	if ((bcd_src[1] & 0xf0) == 0xf0) {
+		plmn->mnc = (bcd_src[2] & 0x0f) * 10
+			  + (bcd_src[2] >> 4);
+		plmn->mnc_3_digits = false;
+	} else {
+		plmn->mnc = (bcd_src[2] & 0x0f) * 100
+			  + (bcd_src[2] >> 4) * 10
+			  + (bcd_src[1] >> 4);
+		plmn->mnc_3_digits = true;
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/gsm/gsm48.c b/src/gsm/gsm48.c
index b58e9e2..c2affae 100644
--- a/src/gsm/gsm48.c
+++ b/src/gsm/gsm48.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <inttypes.h>
+#include <ctype.h>
 
 #include <osmocom/core/utils.h>
 #include <osmocom/core/byteswap.h>
@@ -180,6 +181,19 @@
 	return get_value_string(rr_cause_names, cause);
 }
 
+/*! Return MCC-MNC-LAC-RAC as string, in a static buffer.
+ * \param[in] rai  RAI to encode.
+ * \returns Static string buffer.
+ */
+const char *osmo_rai_name(const struct gprs_ra_id *rai)
+{
+	static char buf[32];
+	snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s-%s-%u-%u",
+		 osmo_mcc_name(rai->mcc), osmo_mnc_name(rai->mnc, rai->mnc_3_digits), rai->lac,
+		 rai->rac);
+	return buf;
+}
+
 /* FIXME: convert to value_string */
 static const char *cc_state_names[32] = {
 	"NULL",
@@ -418,15 +432,6 @@
 	return get_value_string(mi_type_names, mi);
 }
 
-static void to_bcd(uint8_t *bcd, uint16_t val)
-{
-	bcd[2] = val % 10;
-	val = val / 10;
-	bcd[1] = val % 10;
-	val = val / 10;
-	bcd[0] = val % 10;
-}
-
 /*! Checks is particular message is cipherable in A/Gb mode according to
  *         3GPP TS 24.008 § 4.7.1.2
  *  \param[in] hdr Message header
@@ -451,64 +456,61 @@
 	}
 }
 
-/* Convert MCC + MNC to BCD representation
- * \param[out] bcd_dst caller-allocated memory for output
- * \param[in] mcc Mobile Country Code
- * \param[in] mnc Mobile Network Code
- *
- * Convert given mcc and mnc to BCD and write to *bcd_dst, which must be an
- * allocated buffer of (at least) 3 bytes length. */
+/* Convert MCC + MNC to BCD representation, legacy implementation.
+ * Instead use osmo_plmn_to_bcd(), which is also capable of converting
+ * 3-digit MNC that have leading zeros. For parameters, also see there. */
 void gsm48_mcc_mnc_to_bcd(uint8_t *bcd_dst, uint16_t mcc, uint16_t mnc)
 {
-	uint8_t bcd[3];
-
-	to_bcd(bcd, mcc);
-	bcd_dst[0] = bcd[0] | (bcd[1] << 4);
-	bcd_dst[1] = bcd[2];
-
-	to_bcd(bcd, mnc);
-	/* FIXME: do we need three-digit MNC? See Table 10.5.3 */
-	if (mnc > 99) {
-		bcd_dst[1] |= bcd[2] << 4;
-		bcd_dst[2] = bcd[0] | (bcd[1] << 4);
-	} else {
-		bcd_dst[1] |= 0xf << 4;
-		bcd_dst[2] = bcd[1] | (bcd[2] << 4);
-	}
+	const struct osmo_plmn_id plmn = {
+		.mcc = mcc,
+		.mnc = mnc,
+		.mnc_3_digits = false,
+	};
+	osmo_plmn_to_bcd(bcd_dst, &plmn);
 }
 
-/* Convert given 3-byte BCD buffer to integers and write results to *mcc and
- * *mnc. The first three BCD digits result in the MCC and the remaining ones in
- * the MNC. */
+/* Convert given 3-byte BCD buffer to integers, legacy implementation.
+ * Instead use osmo_plmn_from_bcd(), which is also capable of converting
+ * 3-digit MNC that have leading zeros. For parameters, also see there. */
 void gsm48_mcc_mnc_from_bcd(uint8_t *bcd_src, uint16_t *mcc, uint16_t *mnc)
 {
-	*mcc = (bcd_src[0] & 0x0f) * 100
-	     + (bcd_src[0] >> 4) * 10
-	     + (bcd_src[1] & 0x0f);
-
-	if ((bcd_src[1] & 0xf0) == 0xf0) {
-		*mnc = (bcd_src[2] & 0x0f) * 10
-		     + (bcd_src[2] >> 4);
-	} else {
-		*mnc = (bcd_src[2] & 0x0f) * 100
-		     + (bcd_src[2] >> 4) * 10
-		     + (bcd_src[1] >> 4);
-	}
+	struct osmo_plmn_id plmn;
+	osmo_plmn_from_bcd(bcd_src, &plmn);
+	*mcc = plmn.mcc;
+	*mnc = plmn.mnc;
 }
 
-/*! Encode TS 04.08 Location Area Identifier
- *  \param[out] caller-provided memory for output
+/*! Encode TS 04.08 Location Area Identifier, legacy implementation.
+ * Instead use gsm48_generate_lai2(), which is capable of three-digit MNC with leading zeros.
+ *  \param[out] lai48 caller-provided memory for output
  *  \param[in] mcc Mobile Country Code
  *  \param[in] mnc Mobile Network Code
  *  \param[in] lac Location Area Code */
 void gsm48_generate_lai(struct gsm48_loc_area_id *lai48, uint16_t mcc,
 			uint16_t mnc, uint16_t lac)
 {
-	gsm48_mcc_mnc_to_bcd(&lai48->digits[0], mcc, mnc);
-	lai48->lac = osmo_htons(lac);
+	const struct osmo_location_area_id lai = {
+		.plmn = {
+			.mcc = mcc,
+			.mnc = mnc,
+			.mnc_3_digits = false,
+		},
+		.lac = lac,
+	};
+	gsm48_generate_lai2(lai48, &lai);
 }
 
-/*! Decode TS 04.08 Location Area Identifier
+/*! Encode TS 04.08 Location Area Identifier.
+ *  \param[out] lai48 caller-provided memory for output.
+ *  \param[in] lai input of MCC-MNC-LAC. */
+void gsm48_generate_lai2(struct gsm48_loc_area_id *lai48, const struct osmo_location_area_id *lai)
+{
+	osmo_plmn_to_bcd(&lai48->digits[0], &lai->plmn);
+	lai48->lac = osmo_htons(lai->lac);
+}
+
+/*! Decode TS 04.08 Location Area Identifier, legacy implementation.
+ * Instead use gsm48_decode_lai2(), which is capable of three-digit MNC with leading zeros.
  *  \param[in] Location Area Identifier (encoded)
  *  \param[out] mcc Mobile Country Code
  *  \param[out] mnc Mobile Network Code
@@ -519,11 +521,25 @@
 int gsm48_decode_lai(struct gsm48_loc_area_id *lai, uint16_t *mcc,
 		     uint16_t *mnc, uint16_t *lac)
 {
-	gsm48_mcc_mnc_from_bcd(&lai->digits[0], mcc, mnc);
-	*lac = osmo_ntohs(lai->lac);
+	struct osmo_location_area_id decoded;
+	gsm48_decode_lai2(lai, &decoded);
+	*mcc = decoded.plmn.mcc;
+	*mnc = decoded.plmn.mnc;
+	*lac = decoded.lac;
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/*! Decode TS 04.08 Location Area Identifier.
+ *  \param[in] Location Area Identifier (encoded).
+ *  \param[out] decoded Target buffer to write decoded values of MCC-MNC-LAC.
+ *
+ * Attention: this function returns true integers, not hex! */
+void gsm48_decode_lai2(const struct gsm48_loc_area_id *lai, struct osmo_location_area_id *decoded)
+{
+	osmo_plmn_from_bcd(&lai->digits[0], &decoded->plmn);
+	decoded->lac = osmo_ntohs(lai->lac);
+}
+
 /*! Set DTX mode in Cell Options IE (3GPP TS 44.018)
  *  \param[in] op Cell Options structure in which DTX parameters will be set
  *  \param[in] full Mode for full-rate channels
@@ -682,10 +698,12 @@
 	if ((buf[1] >> 4) == 0xf) {
 		raid->mnc = (buf[2] & 0xf) * 10;
 		raid->mnc += (buf[2] >> 4) * 1;
+		raid->mnc_3_digits = false;
 	} else {
 		raid->mnc = (buf[2] & 0xf) * 100;
 		raid->mnc += (buf[2] >> 4) * 10;
 		raid->mnc += (buf[1] >> 4) * 1;
+		raid->mnc_3_digits = true;
 	}
 
 	raid->lac = osmo_load16be(buf + 3);
@@ -704,7 +722,7 @@
 	out->digits[0] = ((raid->mcc / 100) % 10) | (((raid->mcc / 10) % 10) << 4);
 	out->digits[1] = raid->mcc % 10;
 
-	if (raid->mnc < 100) {
+	if (raid->mnc < 100 && !raid->mnc_3_digits) {
 		out->digits[1] |= 0xf0;
 		out->digits[2] = ((raid->mnc / 10) % 10) | ((raid->mnc % 10) << 4);
 	} else {
diff --git a/src/gsm/libosmogsm.map b/src/gsm/libosmogsm.map
index 7a74718..531c5c1 100644
--- a/src/gsm/libosmogsm.map
+++ b/src/gsm/libosmogsm.map
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@
 gsm0808_create_dtap;
 gsm0808_create_layer3;
 gsm0808_create_layer3_aoip;
+gsm0808_create_layer3_2;
 gsm0808_create_reset;
 gsm0808_create_reset_ack;
 gsm0808_create_sapi_reject;
@@ -259,6 +260,16 @@
 gsm48_mi_type_name;
 gsm48_mcc_mnc_to_bcd;
 gsm48_mcc_mnc_from_bcd;
+gsm48_generate_lai2;
+gsm48_decode_lai2;
+osmo_plmn_to_bcd;
+osmo_plmn_from_bcd;
+osmo_mcc_name;
+osmo_mnc_name;
+osmo_plmn_name;
+osmo_plmn_name2;
+osmo_lai_name;
+osmo_rai_name;
 gsm48_chan_mode_names;
 gsm_chan_t_names;
 gsm48_pdisc_names;