In a network comprising user devices and signal notes, communication links are scheduled by identifying one or more active signal node/user device pairs, wherein each active pair comprises a signal node that is presently communicating with a respective active user device over a signal channel. Then, one or more inactive signal node/user device pairs is identified; each inactive pair comprises an inactive signal node that is not presently communicating over the signal channel and a potential user device that is capable of communicating with the inactive signal node over the signal channel. One of the inactive pairs is then identified which, when made into an active pair, will achieve the greatest total fairness criterion, the total fairness criterion being a sum of a fairness criterion for the potential user device in the inactive pair in question and a fairness criterion for each of the active user devices in the event that the respective inactive pair becomes an active pair. The fairness criterion for each user device is dependent on the transmission rate achievable between the user device and the signal node in its respective pair.