An apparatus 300 for a cellular communication system ( 100 ) comprises a buffer ( 303 ) which receives data for transmission over an air interface ( 115 ). The buffer ( 303 ) is coupled to a scheduler ( 305 ) which schedules the data and allocates the physical resource of the air interface ( 115 ). The transmissions are performed using a retransmission scheme such as a Hybrid-Automatic Repeat reQuest scheme. A load processor ( 309 ) determines a load characteristic associated with the scheduler ( 305 ) and a target controller ( 311 ) sets a target parameter for the retransmission scheme in response to the load characteristic. Specifically, a block error rate target may be set in response to a load level of a cell or plurality of cells. A transmission controller ( 307 ) sets a transmission parameter for a transmission in response to the target parameter and a transmitter ( 301 ) transmits the data using the transmission parameter. Accordingly, an operating point of the retransmission scheme may be dynamically adjusted thereby reducing overall latency.