A computer implemented method in a communications network, the method comprising: determining, at a source base station, that a user equipment 'UE' is near a cell edge of the source base station, the UE receiving a multimedia broadcast multicast service 'MBMS' from the source base station and being in Radio Resource Control 'RRC' connected mode, wherein determining that the UE is near the cell edge comprises receiving, from the UE, a measurement report, the measurement report including a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network 'MBSFN' area identifier 'MBSFN-AreaID' indicative of the MBMS that the UE is currently receiving from the source base station, or a temporary multicast group identity 'TMGI' indicator; identifying (658, 664), at the source base station while the UE is in RRC connected mode, a target base station from among one or more neighboring base stations, the target base station having the same MBSFN-AreaID as that received in the measurement report from the UE or the same TMGI, wherein identifying the target base station comprises (i) in the case where the measurement report includes the MBSFN-AreaID, identifying, at the source base station, one or more base stations that have the same MBSFN-AreaID as the MBSFN AreaID received in the measurement report from the UE, and selecting the target base station from among the identified one or more base stations, based at least in part on a signal strength of the target base station is greater than or equal to a certain threshold to support MBMS transmission, (ii) in the case where none of the one or more neighboring base stations has the same MBSFN-AreaID as the MBSFN-AreaID received in the measurement report from the UE, and the measurement report includes the TMGI, identifying one or more base stations that transmit the same TMGI indicator as in the measurement report received from the UE, and selecting the target base station from among the identified one or more base stations, based at least in part on a signal strength of the target base station is greater than or equal to a certain threshold to support MBMS transmission; providing, by the source base station, an indication of the target base station to the UE; and initiating, a handover procedure for the UE to the target base station, wherein, if none of the one or more neighboring base stations has the same MBSFN-AreaID or the same TMGI of the source base station, triggering (668, 814) the UE to initiate a unicast session to deliver the MBMS service via unicast. determining, at a source base station, that a user equipment 'UE' is near a cell edge of the source base station, the UE receiving a multimedia broadcast multicast service 'MBMS' from the source base station and being in Radio Resource Control 'RRC' connected mode, wherein determining that the UE is near the cell edge comprises receiving, from the UE, a measurement report, the measurement report including a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network 'MBSFN' area identifier 'MBSFN-AreaID' indicative of the MBMS that the UE is currently receiving from the source base station, or a temporary multicast group identity 'TMGI' indicator; identifying (658, 664), at the source base station while the UE is in RRC connected mode, a target base station from among one or more neighboring base stations, the target base station having the same MBSFN-AreaID as that received in the measurement report from the UE or the same TMGI, wherein identifying the target base station comprises (i) in the case where the measurement report includes the MBSFN-AreaID, identifying, at the source base station, one or more base stations that have the same MBSFN-AreaID as the MBSFN AreaID received in the measurement report from the UE, and selecting the target base station from among the identified one or more base stations, based at least in part on a signal strength of the target base station is greater than or equal to a certain threshold to support MBMS transmission, (ii) in the case where none of the one or more neighboring base stations has the same MBSFN-AreaID as the MBSFN-AreaID received in the measurement report from the UE, and the measurement report includes the TMGI, identifying one or more base stations that transmit the same TMGI indicator as in the measurement report received from the UE, and selecting the target base station from among the identified one or more base stations, based at least in part on a signal strength of the target base station is greater than or equal to a certain threshold to support MBMS transmission; providing, by the source base station, an indication of the target base station to the UE; and