Methods, apparatus, and device-readable mediums are disclosed relating to wireless access in a network requiring a carrier-sense mechanism. One aspect provides a method performed by a transmitting device for transmitting to a receiving device in a wireless communications network. The transmitting device comprises a plurality of antenna elements. The method comprises: performing a directional carrier-sense assessment for one or more sub-bands configured for transmissions between the transmitting device and the receiving device, the directional carrier-sense assessment utilizing beamforming to detect a respective level of wireless activity on each of the sub-bands in a particular direction for transmissions to the receiving device; selecting a respective transmit power for each sub-band based on the determined level of wireless activity; and transmitting to the receiving device in the particular direction, using the respective selected transmit power for each sub-band.