A method for operating a wireless communication device in a cellular network comprises the steps of: determining power consumption criteria for at least one first time period containing at least one data transmission, carrying out a data transmission session, in case that after said data transmission session the wireless communication device has changed from a first base node to a second base node of the cellular network: determining power consumption criteria for at least one second time period containing at least one data transmission on a second base node, comparing power consumption criteria of the first time period with power consumption criteria of the second time period, carrying out a cell reselection to the first base node, in case at the first time period the determined power consumption criteria indicate a lower power consumption than at the second time period.