Abstract: An interactive voice control application for an interactive digital television system needs greater than the typical bandwidth provided in the digital interactive television system return path. One way to obtain greater bandwidth is to make greater utilization of existing bandwidth. The invention herein provides a modified Aloha protocol that can solve the problem of maximizing bandwidth utilization without requiring changes to deployed equipment. The preferred embodiment of the invention provides a method and apparatus for increasing bandwidth assignment latency in a data transmission scheme which employs the Aloha protocol, to improve channel utilization in a multi-carrier data transmission system which thereby improves bandwidth efficiency.