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In a number of wireless communication systems with multibeam antennas, the distance from the antenna to subscribers in different parts of the service area varies significantly. Such systems include high-altitude platform station communication systems, communication systems based on low Earth orbit and medium Earth orbit satellites, and several others. If such a system uses an antenna with identical beams, the throughputs of communication lines in different cells can differ by more than an order of magnitude due to the variation in distance. To equalize throughputs across all cells within the service area, an antenna with different beams can be employed. The gain of these beams should be proportional to the squared slant ranges to the centers of the served cells. The gain of a beam can be modified by altering its size and shape. This paper proposes a method for service area partitioning in communication systems that accounts for the slant range to subscribers. It determines the shapes and profiles of the ideal contoured beams and presents optimized contoured beams for a real antenna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]