This standard specifies the air interface, including the medium access control layer (MAC) and physical layer (PHY), of combined fixed and mobile point-to-multipoint broadband wireless access (BWA) systems providing multiple services. The MAC is structured to support multiple PHY specifications, including WirelessMAN-SC, WirelessMAN-OFDM, and WirelessMAN-OFDMA PHY specifications, each suited to a particular operational environment.

This project specifies operation in licensed spectrum with channel bandwidths greater than or equal to 5 kHz and less than 100 kHz. The project specifies a new PHY, and changes to the MAC as necessary to support the PHY. The amendment is frequency independent but focuses on spectrum less than 2 GHz. The range and data rate supported by the narrower channels are commensurate with those of the base standard, as scaled by the reduced channel bandwidth. The project also amends IEEE Std 802.16 as required to support aggregated operation in adjacent and non-adjacent channels.