In a communication system (10) having a pool of communication resources (11), such resources are preferentially allocated amongst a plurality of communication services (such as, for example, voice services, single-slot packet data services, and multi-slot packet data services) in a manner that tends to facilitate subsequent expansion of selected services (such as multi-slot packet data services). In a preferred embodiment, the allocation process also tends to favor balanced as versus unbalanced expansion of certain services when comparing one physical carrier that supports the service against another physical carrier that also supports that service.