A system for channel access in Long Term Evolution (LTE) License-Assisted Access (LAA) is disclosed. The system includes a controller and a plurality of radio points. A level one radio point transmits a first reservation signal in response to a first backoff counter reaching zero. The first reservation signal indicates that the level one radio point will begin a first transmission of a first duration starting in a next subframe. A candidate level two radio point receives the first reservation signal and determines whether the candidate level two radio point received the first reservation signal with a signal to interference noise ratio (SINR) that exceeds a reservation detection threshold for the candidate level two radio point.