A method and apparatus for sector based resource allocation in a broadband wireless communications system. A service region is divided into a plurality of cells, and each cell is divided into a plurality of labeled sectors. Each label is selected to avoid an unacceptable amount of interference from any other sector while ensuring that at least two sectors in a cell share the same label. Transmissions are scheduled for a cell by assigning each communications site a channel, such as a time slot associated with the sector's label. The transmissions are then communicated according to this schedule.