A radio communication system (50) which uses a transmit power control loop to adjust downlink (160) transmit power from a base station (100) to a mobile station (200) and periodic reports of downlink channel quality (CQI) transmitted by the mobile station (200) on an uplink (260) to select a downlink transmission parameter, temporarily transmits additional CQI reports in response to an interruption in the transmit power control loop or the CQI reporting.