A method and mobile subscriber station in a broadband wireless communication system, wherein a receiver receives configuration information including a type field representing a type of a reduced connection identifier (CID) from a base station, and selectively applies the reduced CID based on the type field. The type of the reduced CID is determined based on a range of a basic CID of the mobile subscriber station connected to the base station. The type field includes at least two bits representing one of use of the basic CID and available types of the reduced CID. The available types represent available lengths of the reduced CID, and the reduced CID includes n Least Significant Bits (LSBs) of the basic CID, where n is a positive integer indicated by the type field.