In a CDMA cellular radio system during soft handoff the base stations interpret the conventional power control commands sent by the mobile station according to a majority vote thus reducing the probability of responding to an erroneous power control command. Alternatively, during soft handoff every other power control command received is deliberately ignored. The base stations also synchronize their power levels periodically resulting in more optimum base station power transmission levels, in turn resulting in a reduction in system noise and an increase in system capacity.