A radio communication system includes a base station having a directional antenna for generating a plurality of beams. A first set of the beams is used to receive signals which are decoded at the base station. A second set of the beams is used for interrogating a cell to identify beams which should be added to the first set of beams (for example, in response to mobile terminals entering the cell). In one embodiment, the second set of beams comprises a plurality of searcher beams produced by a fixed-beam phased array antenna. In a second embodiment, the second set of beams comprises a single searcher beam which is scanned through the cell by an adaptive phased array antenna. The radio communication system can be used to communicate with indoor mobile terminals through a plurality of radio heads, and also can be used to communicate with orbiting satellites.