According to some embodiments, a method for use in a user equipment (UE) of acquiring system information or a synchronization signal comprises receiving, from a network node, a plurality of subframes. Each subframe includes a repetition of either system information or a synchronization signal. The repetition is divided into a number (N) of transmission blocks in a frequency domain of a first bandwidth (N>1). The method further comprises combining N transmission blocks from one or more repetitions of the respective received plurality of subframes to decode the system information or synchronization signal. The UE may comprise a narrowband wireless device operable to receive a bandwidth less than the first bandwidth, and combining N transmission blocks to decode the system information or synchronization signal may comprise combining at least one transmission block from two or more repetitions of two or more respective subframes of the plurality of subframes.