A TDMA communication system (100) includes a plurality of subscriber units (107, 108) and has a sequentially numbered frame structure including first and second subslots used for transmissions by the subscriber units. The second subslot overlaps with an optimum time period (304, 318) for making a signal quality measurement of a neighbor cell. A fixed portion of the communication system communicates (402) a first control value to a first subscriber unit; and the first subscriber unit transmits (404) during the first subslot (326) in even-numbered frames (324) and during the second subslot (312) in odd-numbered frames (314), in response to the first control value, thereby allowing neighbor cell signal quality measurements during the optimum time period in alternate frames.