Machine type communication method and terminal

The invention relates to a machine type communication method, comprising the following steps of: when an original call and/or terminal call service needs to be implemented, starting up and an MTC terminal starts up and accessing a network, registering to an MTC application server; after the original call and/or terminal call service is finished, canceling registration on the MTC application server by the MTC terminal and powering off. The invention also relates to a machine type communication method and a terminal. By using the characters of a service model used by the MTC terminal, according to the schedule time of service execution, the embodiment of the invention ensures that the MTC terminal starts up and accesses the network or starts a discontinuous reception (DRX) process, and powers off or stops the DRX process after the service execution is finished, thereby reducing electricity consumption of terminal equipment while ensuring the normal use of service.