Method for prioritizing handover targets for scanning by a mobile terminal in a wireless network

A method for prioritizing handover targets for scanning by a mobile terminal, MS (6), in a wireless network (1) having a plurality of network elements (2 to 5), comprises a network element (2) receiving a signal from an MS (6) for which it is the serving network element and the network element detecting the direction from which it receives the signal from the MS. For the detected direction, the network element obtains, from a data store (2B) associated with the network element (2), probabilities of successful handover to respective different neighboring network elements. The network element (2) uses the probabilities in prioritizing scanning order of neighboring network elements and sends information about the prioritized scanning order to the MS (6). The network may be a WiMAX network in which the network elements are base stations.