An apparatus and process for allocating carriers in a multicarrier system is described. In on embodiment, the process comprises determining a location (E, D, C, B, A; fig. 6 ) of a subscriber (520) with respect to a base station (510), selecting carriers from a band of carriers to allocate to the subscriber (520) according to the location of the subscriber with respect to the base station (510), and allocating selected carriers to the subscriber (520).