A wireless communication system using a media access control (MAC) layer comprising a subscriber unit system and a base station system. The base station system is configured to receive a request for a communication service, dynamically select between a first portion of the MAC layer corresponding to a first wireless transmission link using a licensed radio frequency and a second portion of the MAC layer corresponding to a second wireless transmission link using an unlicensed radio frequency, and exchange communications for the communication service over the selected one of the first portion and the second portion of the MAC layer. The subscriber unit system is configured to transmit the request for the communication service to the base station system and exchange the communications for the communication service over the selected one of the first portion and the second portion of the MAC layer.