Method and apparatus for providing a communication service to a communication unit in a wireless communication system with overlapping coverage areas

The present invention addresses the need for an apparatus and method for providing a communication service to a communication unit (112) with acceptable audio quality, when a serving site (109) does not have sufficient resources. To obtain the required communication resources, base sites (106-108) whose wireless coverage areas overlap the serving base site are considered. Before selecting an alternate base site to provide the communication service, the present invention, in contrast to the prior art, determines whether the alternate base site is capable of providing the communication service to the communication unit with an acceptable level of quality. If it is, the alternate base site is selected to provide the communication service to the communication unit.