In a mobile radiotelephone system, a base station, upon receiving a service request from a mobile station, ascertains whether the service request can be accepted according to the availability of voice channels in the base station, and, if the service request cannot be accepted, compares a measured signal strength of the service request with at least one threshold value. If the signal strength exceeds the threshold, the mobile station is directed to retry the service request on one or more of a first set of channels assigned to neighboring base stations. Otherwise, the mobile station is directed to retry the service request on one or more of at least a second set of channels assigned to neighboring base stations. Accordingly, directed retries nearer the interior of a cell may be restricted or eliminated, whereas directed retries toward the periphery of the cell may be freely allowed or less severely restricted. Since interference is greater from mobile stations transmitting nearer the interior of a cell on the frequency of an adjacent cell than from such mobile stations transmitting from the periphery of the cell, interference is therefore reduced. |