A method and apparatus for providing planning of a plurality of radio network controllers in a wireless network are disclosed. For example, the method obtains input data, and determines a limit for at least one radio network controller parameter in accordance with the input data. The method determines if the limit for the at least one radio network controller parameter is exceeded and determines an optimal output for an objective function, wherein the objective function is based on a plurality of penalty factors, if the limit for the at least one radio controller parameter is exceeded.