A network termination modem, comprising: a physical layer, PHY, controller configured to generate a PHY link signaling bit stream; at least one symbol mapper configured to receive a data bit stream and the PHY link signaling bit stream, and to map the data bit stream and the PHY link signaling bit stream to respective constellations to generate data and PHY Link Channel, PLC, symbols; a multi-carrier modulator configured to modulate the data and PLC symbols with respective subcarriers to generate a multi-carrier modulated symbol for transmission over a multi-carrier channel, wherein the PLC symbols comprise a template of the multi-carrier channel; and a radio frequency, RF, transmitter configured to transmit the multi-carrier modulated symbol over the multi-carrier channel to at least one cable modem, CM, wherein the multi-carrier channel comprises: a plurality of data subcarriers configured to transport the data symbols, and a plurality of PLC subcarriers configured to transport the PLC symbols, wherein the plurality of data subcarriers include Next Profile Pointer, NPP, subcarriers configured to transport NPP symbols, wherein the template includes at least one of: a center frequency of the multi-carrier channel, available subcarriers of the multi-carrier channel, frequency locations of the NPP subcarriers within the multi-carrier channel, a default modulation profile, synchronization information, and power management information, wherein the data symbols include at least a first codeword, the first codeword being transported by a first data subcarrier group of the plurality of data subcarriers, wherein the NPP symbols include a pointer configured to identify a frequency and time boundary of the first data subcarrier group and a modulation profile identifier associated with the first codeword, and wherein the PLC symbols further include a preamble that is multiplexed in time with the template of the multi-carrier channel. a physical layer, PHY, controller configured to generate a PHY link signaling bit stream; at least one symbol mapper configured to receive a data bit stream and the PHY link signaling bit stream, and to map the data bit stream and the PHY link signaling bit stream to respective constellations to generate data and PHY Link Channel, PLC, symbols; a multi-carrier modulator configured to modulate the data and PLC symbols with respective subcarriers to generate a multi-carrier modulated symbol for transmission over a multi-carrier channel, wherein the PLC symbols comprise a template of the multi-carrier channel; and a radio frequency, RF, transmitter configured to transmit the multi-carrier modulated symbol over the multi-carrier channel to at least one cable modem, CM, wherein the multi-carrier channel comprises: a plurality of data subcarriers configured to transport the data symbols, and a plurality of PLC subcarriers configured to transport the PLC symbols, wherein the plurality of data subcarriers include Next Profile Pointer, NPP, subcarriers configured to transport NPP symbols, wherein the template includes at least one of: a center frequency of the multi-carrier channel, available subcarriers of the multi-carrier channel, frequency locations of the NPP subcarriers within the multi-carrier channel, a default modulation profile, synchronization information, and power management information, wherein the data symbols include at least a first codeword, the first codeword being transported by a first data subcarrier group of the plurality of data subcarriers, wherein the NPP symbols include a pointer configured to identify a frequency and time boundary of the first data subcarrier group and a modulation profile identifier associated with the first codeword, and wherein the PLC symbols further include a preamble that is multiplexed in time with the template of the multi-carrier channel. a plurality of data subcarriers configured to transport the data symbols, and a plurality of PLC subcarriers configured to transport the PLC symbols, wherein the plurality of data subcarriers include Next Profile Pointer, NPP, subcarriers configured to transport NPP symbols, wherein the template includes at least one of: a center frequency of the multi-carrier channel, available subcarriers of the multi-carrier channel, frequency locations of the NPP subcarriers within the multi-carrier channel, a default modulation profile, synchronization information, and power management information, wherein the data symbols include at least a first codeword, the first codeword being transported by a first data subcarrier group of the plurality of data subcarriers, wherein the NPP symbols include a pointer configured to identify a frequency and time boundary of the first data subcarrier group and a modulation profile identifier associated with the first codeword, and wherein the PLC symbols further include a preamble that is multiplexed in time with the template of the multi-carrier channel.