A private wide area paging system which provides the flexibility, versatility and speed of an on-site paging system but covering a wider area. Minimum performance characteristics and related methods of measurement for private wide-area paging systems. On-site paging systems with an extended free field range achieved by using a higher transmitter power and antenna location, as well as a specified receiver sensitivity. It may use time sharing in order to increase the number of virtually available channels. The time sharing proposed is a free running system that requires minimum overhead and supplies minimum loss of net-airtime. The provisions for EMC compatibility are defined in the relevant EMC standard.The system will work in the high band VHF or UHF frequency range. Types of equipment covered: base station transmitters/ receivers/ transceivers, pocket receivers. Potential customers include emergency services, hospitals and manufacturing industry that may be located at various sites within the coverage area. Additional standards/specifications may be required for equipment inteded to interface to the PSTN.