A group-based PDCCH capability is proposed in LTE. In particular, information common to a group of UEs, such as those common to a virtual carrier, may be signalled in a group search space within the PDCCH. This common information may include the location of a further control region embedded in the virtual carrier which contains UE-specific information for access the resources of the virtual carrier. Additional methods are introduced for assigning UEs a group identity by implicit signalling, and for determining the aggregation level of the group-based PDCCH search space.