A method and apparatus for allocating and using a finite resource to transmit wireless information signals to a plurality of subscriber units is disclosed. Individual subscriber units transmit data rate requests to serving base stations. The data rate requests and weight values associated with each subscriber unit are compared (758) in order to select a subscriber unit as the recipient of data transmitted through the finite resource at any given time. To maximize throughput without starving any single subscriber unit, the method includes calculation and comparison of a desirability metric (766) in choosing a subscriber unit from among a subset of the plurality of subscriber units having comparable weight values.