An apparatus for communicating data is provided that includes a
cell site element associated with a
base transceiver station and operable to receive a plurality of packets associated with a communications flow, the packets including a plurality of subrates. The
cell site element is further operable to detect a congestion condition via a measurement of a level in a receive
jitter buffer. When the congestion condition exists, individual subrates can be dropped from subsequent backhaul packets until congestion subsides. Single timeslots of the flow are systematically added back during a configured time interval such that congestion abatement will back-off gradually. In more particular embodiments, the
cell site element can be informed that congestion exists, whereby a congestion level is assigned to a collection of the subrates. In addition, the
cell site element prioritizes the subrates and removes individual samples from one or more of the packets.