A wireless telecommunications system (1) includes a central terminal (10) for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals to and from a subscriber terminal (20). A downlink communication path is established from a transmitter (200) of the central terminal (10) to a receiver (202) of the subscriber terminal (20). A downlink signal (212) is transmitted from the transmitter (200) to the receiver (202) during setup and operation of the wireless telecommunications system (1) carrying information partitioned into a plurality of frames. The downlink signal (212) includes an overhead channel (224) having a frame alignment signal (232) for each frame of information. The receiver (202) monitors the downlink signal (212) to identify the frame alignment signal (232). The downlink communication path is established when the receiver (202) identifies two successive frame alignment signals (232). A frame alignment circuit includes a plurality of shift registers (310) arranged in parallel and frame alignment logic (314, 316) for monitoring the shift registers in parallel to identify a frame alignment word and to establish correct frame alignment.