Machine type communication devices using frequency within host carriers used by LTE type devices

A mobile communications system for communicating data to and/or from mobile communications devices. The mobile communications system comprises one or more base stations, each of which includes a transmitter and a receiver operable to provide a wireless access interface for communicating data to and/or from the mobile communications devices, the wireless access interface providing on a downlink a host carrier, the host carrier providing a plurality of resource elements across a first frequency range for communicating data; and a first and second mobile communications devices. The first mobile communications device 3G or 4G and is operable to receive downlink communications via the host carrier. The wireless access interface provided by the one or more base stations is arranged to provide a virtual carrier, the virtual carrier providing one or more resource elements within a second frequency range which is within and smaller than the first frequency range, and the second mobile communications device is a machine type communication device (MTC), operable, upon detection of the virtual carrier, to receive downlink communications via the virtual carrier. The invention aims to allow the less complex MTC device to communicate using the long term evolution (LTE) type networks.