A system and method for allocating network resources are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the system and method are configured to perform: broadcasting at least one message indicating first and second formats. The first format is used by a plurality of wireless communication devices to send respective first random access preambles and the second format is used by the plurality of wireless communication devices to send respective second random access preambles. The first and second formats respectively correspond to first and second cell coverage ranges of a wireless communication node, wherein the second cell coverage range is greater than the first cell coverage range.