By using allocated spectrum from the mobile station air interface, one or more remote, child access points within a wireless communication network establish backhaul connections to a parent access point having conventional backhaul links to the network. In this manner, backhaul traffic is carried on the standard air interface coexistent with the normal mobile station traffic. Such an arrangement permits parent and child access points to use the standard air interface for both conventional mobile station traffic, as well as backhaul traffic. In an exemplary embodiment, a wireless cellular communication network establishes backhaul connections between one or more child Radio Base Stations (RBSs) and a parent RBS using one or more of the data channels defined by the network's air interface.