A method for controlling carrier load, applied to a network device, and comprising: configuring an uplink bandwidth part set and a downlink bandwidth part set for a user equipment, UE, through broadcast information, wherein the uplink bandwidth part set comprises at least two uplink bandwidth parts, the at least two uplink bandwidth parts are a part of all uplink bandwidth parts that are allocable by the network device, and the at least two uplink bandwidth parts comprise at least one first uplink bandwidth part comprising physical random access channel, PRACH, resource configuration information; and the downlink bandwidth part set comprises at least two downlink bandwidth parts, and the at least two downlink bandwidth parts are a part of all downlink bandwidth parts that are allocable by the network device, characterized in that, the method further comprises: after configuring the uplink bandwidth part set and the downlink bandwidth part set for the UE through the broadcast information, receiving, in the first uplink bandwidth part, a random access preamble sent by the UE; and sending, in a first downlink bandwidth part in the downlink bandwidth part set, response information for the random access preamble to the UE, and wherein the method further comprises: calculating, based on an index of the random access preamble and a number of the downlink bandwidth parts comprised in the downlink bandwidth part set, an index value of the first downlink bandwidth part; or the method further comprises: after configuring the uplink bandwidth part set and the downlink bandwidth part set for the UE through the broadcast information, sending a paging message to the UE through a second downlink bandwidth part in the downlink bandwidth part set, and wherein the method further comprises calculating, based on identification information of the UE and a number of the downlink bandwidth parts comprised in the downlink bandwidth part set, an index value corresponding to the second downlink bandwidth part for sending the paging message to the UE. configuring an uplink bandwidth part set and a downlink bandwidth part set for a user equipment, UE, through broadcast information, wherein the uplink bandwidth part set comprises at least two uplink bandwidth parts, the at least two uplink bandwidth parts are a part of all uplink bandwidth parts that are allocable by the network device, and the at least two uplink bandwidth parts comprise at least one first uplink bandwidth part comprising physical random access channel, PRACH, resource configuration information; and the downlink bandwidth part set comprises at least two downlink bandwidth parts, and the at least two downlink bandwidth parts are a part of all downlink bandwidth parts that are allocable by the network device, characterized in that, the method further comprises: after configuring the uplink bandwidth part set and the downlink bandwidth part set for the UE through the broadcast information, receiving, in the first uplink bandwidth part, a random access preamble sent by the UE; and sending, in a first downlink bandwidth part in the downlink bandwidth part set, response information for the random access preamble to the UE, and wherein the method further comprises: calculating, based on an index of the random access preamble and a number of the downlink bandwidth parts comprised in the downlink bandwidth part set, an index value of the first downlink bandwidth part; or the method further comprises: after configuring the uplink bandwidth part set and the downlink bandwidth part set for the UE through the broadcast information, sending a paging message to the UE through a second downlink bandwidth part in the downlink bandwidth part set, and wherein the method further comprises calculating, based on identification information of the UE and a number of the downlink bandwidth parts comprised in the downlink bandwidth part set, an index value corresponding to the second downlink bandwidth part for sending the paging message to the UE.