Europe has initiated research activity to analyse and prepare the floor for mobile communication beyond 3G. Very recently, around the beginning of 2004, the European commission started together with the main partners in the relevant industry special projects to realize this plan. The key objective of the WINNER (Wireless World Initiative New Radio) project is to develop an innovative concept in radio access in order to address high flexibility and scalability with respect to data rates and radio environments. The future converged wireless world requires in the long-term perspective a ubiquitous radio system instead of disparate systems for different purposes (cellular, WLAN, short-range access etc.). This concept will be derived by a systematic investigation of advanced radio technologies with respect to predicted user requirements and challenging scenarios. The project will contribute to the global research, regulatory and standardisation communities and processes.