In a cellular radio telecommunications system that employs frequency hopping, system performance can be significantly improved by more fully exploiting interference diversity, while maintaining frequency diversity, which is already associated with frequency hopping techniques. In order to more fully exploit interference diversity, each mobile station operating in a cell is allocated, in addition to a frequency hopping sequence, a frequency offset hopping sequence such that each mobile station hops from one frequency to the next frequency as a function of the frequency hopping sequence and its allocated frequency offset hopping sequence. This technique is readily applicable to increase both intercell and intracell interference diversity in unsynchronized or synchronizhed cells.