A method and apparatus is provided for transmitting an orthogonal frequency domain multiple access (OFDMA) signal including a synchronization channel signal transmitted including a plurality of sequence elements interleaved in time and frequency. The synchronization channel signal sequence elements enable an initial acquisition and cell search method with low computational load by providing predetermined time domain symmetry for common sequence elements in OFDMA symbol periods for OFDMA symbol timing detection and frequency error detection in an OFDMA system supporting multiple system bandwidths, both synchronized and un-synchronized systems, a large cell index and an OFDMA symbol structure with both short and long cyclic prefix length.