Methods and apparatus are provided for the transmission of physical downlink control signaling. In one method, a User Equipment (UE) receives information associated with a physical resource block (PRB) for enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) from a base station. Based on either first information received on physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH) or second information received on higher layer signaling, the UE determines a starting orthogonal frequency division multiple (OFDM) symbol on which EPDCCH transmission starts. The UE receives control information on the EPDDCH based on the information associated with the PRB and the determined starting OFDM symbol.