A method (300) and mobile device (120) for reduced scanning within a uniform period in an out-of-service condition is described herein. In one arrangement, the method can include the steps of detecting (310) the out-of-service condition, during a wake-up interval (410), waking (314) up to scan one or more channels (510, 520, 530, 540) for service and maintaining a constant wake-up time for subsequent wake-up intervals. The method can also include the step of varying (320) the amount of time spent scanning the channels during the subsequent wake-up intervals. As an example, varying the amount of time spent scanning channels can be done by decreasing (322) the amount of time spent scanning for each successive, subsequent wake-up interval.