A wireless multi-cell communication system and method of controlling the distribution of multimedia broadcast services (MBMS). The system includes at least one network, e.g., a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), which distributes the MBMS to one or more wireless receive/transmit units (WTRUs). In one embodiment, the MBMS are activated and deactivated based on whether periodic cell updates are provided for a particular cell. In another embodiment, MBMS transmission is terminated when receipt of the MBMS are confirmed. In yet another embodiment, the MBMS are segmented to reduce the resources used by the network and/or the WTRUs during MBMS distribution.