An apparatus includes a radio frequency transceiver and a channel quality indicator module connected with the transceiver. The channel quality indicator module is configurable to determine at least one characteristic of a channel received through the transceiver and to prepare a channel quality indicator report comprised of a plurality of channel quality indicator fragments. The channel quality indicator module is further configurable to transmit a first channel quality indicator fragment to a wireless network through the transceiver, where the first channel quality indicator fragment comprises information sufficient for use by a network node to make a resource scheduling decision, and to selectively transmit or not transmit at least one further channel quality indicator fragment based on the determined at least one characteristic of the channel, such as a presence or absence of fading. Corresponding method and computer programs are also disclosed, as is a base station operable with a user equipment having the channel quality indicator module.