Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate adjusting allocation of carriers based on inactivity in wireless communications. An inactivity and dormancy timer are provided to allow carrier deallocation in periods of communicative inactivity (after expiration of the inactivity timer) without terminating the connection until expiration of the dormancy timer. Upon expiration of the inactivity timer, carriers can be deallocated from communication to conserve resources and reduce interference while still allowing requests to be made over the connection. If such requests are made, carriers can be reallocated to efficiently transmit a response. The timers are reset when communications are active. In addition, the timers can have expiration times related to aspects of connection, such as a protocol utilized thereover, connection quality, and/or the like.