A system includes a header stripper configured to strip header data from a plurality of legacy system frames. Each of the plurality of legacy system frames (i) being in accordance with a legacy system frame format and (ii) including a header block and a traffic channel block. A first encoder is configured to encode speech data for a plurality of slots of the traffic channel blocks. A second encoder is configured to encode the stripped header data as a frame header. A combiner is configured to combine the frame header and the encoded speech data to generate a frame. A segmenter segments the frame into a plurality of segments. A transmitter is configured to transmit the plurality of segments as traffic channel data in accordance with the legacy system frame format.