Described herein are techniques and systems for selectively transitioning communication sessions from TDD to FDD based on service type and uplink quality. The selective transitioning of communication sessions from TDD to FDD can provide higher and more reliable uplink throughput to UEs, as needed. An example process includes determining, during setup of a communication session for a UE using TDD, a type of service associated with the communication session, and determining that the type of service is a predefined service of a set of predefined services. The example process may further include determining a value indicative of a quality associated with an uplink connection established by the UE, determining that the value fails to satisfy a threshold value, and transitioning, based at least in part on the value failing to satisfy the threshold value, the communication session to a target base station to finish the setup using FDD.