The communication apparatus comprises a receiver which, in operation, receives a PHY layer Data Unit that includes a duration field; Physical (PHY) layer circuitry which, in operation, issues a PHY-CCA (clear channel assessment) primitive parameter indicating bandwidth information on a busy or idle state for each subchannel within an operating bandwidth; and Media Access Control (MAC) circuitry which, in operation, updates a Network Allocation Vector (NAV) value based on the duration information and, in operation, determines busy/idle state of at least one subchannel, wherein the MAC circuitry, in operation, controls transmission of the HE TB PHY layer Data Unit based on the updated NAV value and the busy/idle state of the at least one subchannel, and controls the PHY circuitry to have the HE TB PHY layer Data Unit transmitted when the at least one subchannel is considered idle, regardless of whether the primary subchannel is busy or not.