An apparatus operable with a plurality of remote stations capable of transmission on a shared resource, comprising: a receiver (230,320) for receiving a plurality of access requests for transmission on the shared resource from a respective plurality of remote stations and for measuring the utilization of the shared resource; a scheduler for allocating a portion of the shared resource to zero or more of the requesting remote stations in response to the plurality of access requests, the allocation comprising zero or one common access grant to a subset of the requesting remote stations and for generating a busy signal in response to the measured utilization; and a transmitter (250,370) for transmitting the common access grant to the remaining remote stations on one or more common grant channels and for transmitting the busy signal; wherein the apparatus is further operable with one or more remote stations transmitting with permission from one or more access grants, the apparatus further comprising: a decoder for decoding one or more received packets and determining if the one or more received packets decoded without error; wherein the receiver (230,320) is further operable to receive the one or more packets of data from one or more remote stations respectively; and the transmitter (250,370) is further operable to transmit to the one or more remote stations an acknowledgment and grant extension, ACK-and-Continue, command, respectively, when the respective received packet decoded without error and the access grant for the respective remote stations to be extended; and the scheduler is operable to determine the allocation of the portion of the shared resource in accordance with individual and common grants extended with the one or more ACK-and-Continue commands. a receiver (230,320) for receiving a plurality of access requests for transmission on the shared resource from a respective plurality of remote stations and for measuring the utilization of the shared resource; a scheduler for allocating a portion of the shared resource to zero or more of the requesting remote stations in response to the plurality of access requests, the allocation comprising zero or one common access grant to a subset of the requesting remote stations and for generating a busy signal in response to the measured utilization; and a transmitter (250,370) for transmitting the common access grant to the remaining remote stations on one or more common grant channels and for transmitting the busy signal; wherein the apparatus is further operable with one or more remote stations transmitting with permission from one or more access grants, the apparatus further comprising: a decoder for decoding one or more received packets and determining if the one or more received packets decoded without error; wherein the receiver (230,320) is further operable to receive the one or more packets of data from one or more remote stations respectively; and the transmitter (250,370) is further operable to transmit to the one or more remote stations an acknowledgment and grant extension, ACK-and-Continue, command, respectively, when the respective received packet decoded without error and the access grant for the respective remote stations to be extended; and the scheduler is operable to determine the allocation of the portion of the shared resource in accordance with individual and common grants extended with the one or more ACK-and-Continue commands.