One embodiment is directed to a method of estimating a transmit power of a UE. The method comprises determining, at a base station serving the UE, a received power for the UE, determining, at the base station, a path loss for the UE, and determining, at the base station, the transmit power for the UE as a function of the received power for the UE and the path loss for the UE. The method can be used when the first UE has reached or exceeded a maximum reported power headroom (PHR) for the UE and can be used for performing transmit power control for the UE as a function of the determined transmit power for the UE. Other embodiments are disclosed. The described embodiments can be used in a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) as well as other types of base stations.