We investigate channel allocation policies that

choose among incoming handover requests to a particular

cell. Within a class of non-reserving policies that

efficiently utilize the scarce channel resources, we identify

a Most Critical First policy that is optimal with

respect to handover failure probability. The proof of

optimality is accompanied by the descr iption of two

techniques to realize the policy in practice. Simulation

results that demonstrate its improvement over previous

policies are presented as well.