A broadcast-centric cellular communication system improves broadcast channel performance by exploiting the benefits of macro-diversity in a cellular communication system having a plurality of base stations that transmit signals within a plurality of associated cells. The system constructs an identical paging signal at the plurality of base stations, and controls the base stations to simultaneously transmit the identical paging signal. A mobile station camps on a paging channel that is common to the plurality of base stations, and listens to paging messages being simultaneously broadcast by the plurality of base stations. The mobile station selects a base station having a suitable signal quality, and transmits to the selected base station, a response to a paging message addressed to the mobile station.