A method for use in a broadband wireless access protocol (such as IEEE 802.16 or Long Term Evolution (LTE)) includes scheduling by a base station a stand-by subscriber station for each subscriber station with uplink (UL) transmission opportunities, transmitting by the base station and over the network, a list of each of the stand-by subscriber stations, determining by the stand-by subscriber stations if there is unused bandwidth reserved for the corresponding subscriber station, communicating to the base station that there is the unused bandwidth, and releasing the unused bandwidth for use by the stand-by subscriber station.