A method controls a wireless network, which includes a controller and a plurality of network elements. The method includes determining interference in the wireless network using radio-link measurements, generating an interference matrix identifying the interference in the wireless network, and generating an adjacency matrix based on the interference matrix identifying locations having unacceptable levels of interference in the wireless network. The method also includes allocating channels and corresponding transmission powers in the wireless network to reduce the unacceptable levels of interference. The method is performed at predetermined fixed time intervals and when a new network element is added to the wireless network.