A communications network (200) for enhanced uplink of High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) in 3G wireless communications includes a mobile transceiver unit (605). The mobile transceiver unit is operable to use a channel prediction to estimate a power margin of one or more dedicated channels, predict a power margin for an acknowledgement transmission based on transmission parameters, reserve a power margin for a channel quality indicator (CQI) transmission, and determine an Enhanced Transport Format Combination (E-TFC) for an uplink data packet transmission based on an available power margin. The communications network also includes a communications network node (610) operable to transmit a power control signal to the mobile transceiver unit.