A method of providing downlink control information (DCI) to a plurality of user equipment (UE) is provided. The method includes assigning each of the plurality of UEs to one of a set of groups, each group identified by a group radio network identifier (G-RNTI), and sending to each of the plurality of UEs the G-RNTI, a size of the group, and a position within the group. As such, a group-common DCI (GC-DCI) in which the UE can determine whether or not it has a grant by its assigned position in the group and retrieve the grant from a grant block in the GC-DCI can be sent to the group.