A relay station, which is used to communicate between a base station and a subscriber station in a wireless communications network, may also be used to communicate between the base station and another base station in an adjacent network by having the relay station communicate a message to or from the other base station, either directly or through another relay station associated with the other base station. In some embodiments, relay stations in adjacent networks may be co-located, so that they can communicate with each other over a short high-speed link. In some embodiments this link may be suitable for direct digital communications rather than through modulated carrier signals.