A user equipment, UE, in a wireless communication network, the UE comprising: a processor configured to: generate a random access, RA, message comprising: a preamble portion including one or more repeated preambles constructed using a same sequence, and a cyclic prefix, CP, that precedes repeated preamble sequences; and a data portion including one or more data segments with each data segment including a number of repeated data symbols and a CP that precedes the repeated data symbols, wherein a UE identity, UE-ID, is included in the data portion; and perform a listen-before-talk, LBT, operation for the RA message in an unlicensed spectrum; and a transceiver operably connected to the processor, the transceiver configured to transmit, subject to a result of the LBT operation, the RA message in the unlicensed spectrum to a base station, BS, wherein the preamble portion of the RA message and the data portion of the RA message are multiplexed in one of: a frequency domain with sharing a same time domain resource allocation; a time domain with no gap between the preamble portion and the data portion, with sharing a same frequency domain resource allocation; or a combination of the time domain and the frequency domain, wherein the preamble portion and the data portion do not share the same time domain resource and the frequency domain resource. a processor configured to: generate a random access, RA, message comprising: a preamble portion including one or more repeated preambles constructed using a same sequence, and a cyclic prefix, CP, that precedes repeated preamble sequences; and a data portion including one or more data segments with each data segment including a number of repeated data symbols and a CP that precedes the repeated data symbols, wherein a UE identity, UE-ID, is included in the data portion; and perform a listen-before-talk, LBT, operation for the RA message in an unlicensed spectrum; and generate a random access, RA, message comprising: a preamble portion including one or more repeated preambles constructed using a same sequence, and a cyclic prefix, CP, that precedes repeated preamble sequences; and a data portion including one or more data segments with each data segment including a number of repeated data symbols and a CP that precedes the repeated data symbols, wherein a UE identity, UE-ID, is included in the data portion; and a preamble portion including one or more repeated preambles constructed using a same sequence, and a cyclic prefix, CP, that precedes repeated preamble sequences; and a data portion including one or more data segments with each data segment including a number of repeated data symbols and a CP that precedes the repeated data symbols, wherein a UE identity, UE-ID, is included in the data portion; and perform a listen-before-talk, LBT, operation for the RA message in an unlicensed spectrum; and a transceiver operably connected to the processor, the transceiver configured to transmit, subject to a result of the LBT operation, the RA message in the unlicensed spectrum to a base station, BS, wherein the preamble portion of the RA message and the data portion of the RA message are multiplexed in one of: a frequency domain with sharing a same time domain resource allocation; a time domain with no gap between the preamble portion and the data portion, with sharing a same frequency domain resource allocation; or a combination of the time domain and the frequency domain, wherein the preamble portion and the data portion do not share the same time domain resource and the frequency domain resource. a frequency domain with sharing a same time domain resource allocation; a time domain with no gap between the preamble portion and the data portion, with sharing a same frequency domain resource allocation; or a combination of the time domain and the frequency domain, wherein the preamble portion and the data portion do not share the same time domain resource and the frequency domain resource.