Ofdm subcarrier allocation in a wireless telecommunications system

A method of communicating data in a wireless telecommunications system between a plurality of base stations and a plurality of terminal devices using a plurality of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex, OFDM, sub-carriers spanning a first frequency bandwidth is described. The method comprises communicating data between a first base station and a first terminal device using a first group of the OFDM sub-carriers distributed across the first frequency bandwidth, communicating data between a second base station, which is geographically separated from the first base station, and a second terminal device using a second group of the OFDM sub-carriers distributed across a second frequency bandwidth, wherein the second frequency bandwidth is smaller than and within the first frequency bandwidth; and communicating control-plane data between the first base station and the first terminal device using a combination of the first and second groups of the OFDM sub-carriers. Guard regions may be provided in the frequency domain between frequencies of transmissions associated with the first base station and frequencies of transmissions associated with the second base station. The second base station may be a femto base station which communicates with MTC-type terminals only capable of narrowband operation.