Methods and apparatuses are provided that include providing transmit diversity for data channel transmissions. Different precoding vectors can be used over different slots of a given subframes to precode corresponding signals. The precoding vectors, in one example, can be orthogonal. In addition, using the different precoding vectors can be determined based on a user equipment receiving an indicator from a base station receiving the data channel transmissions of whether to use frequency hopping over the slots. Moreover, precoding vectors used to precode data channel transmissions can additionally or alternatively vary across subframes.