A wireless communication method and apparatus that produce only a small amount of transmission delay even when carrier sensing is performed. Intensity indication data indicating the radio wave intensity of a received wireless signal is generated. The intensity indication data is intermittently captured and retained. An average of the retained intensity indication data is calculated. If the average is less than or equal to a threshold, a wireless transmission operation is enabled. The average is calculated with a frequency according to the frequency of capturing of the intensity indication data. The average and the threshold are compared at a frequency corresponding to the frequency of calculation of the average.