A method for rate adaptation with extended MCS set for wideband eigen-beamforming transmission. A signaling method over multiple channels in a wireless telecommunication system including a transmitter and a receiver, performs the steps of obtaining an information bit stream, selecting the number of transmission streams, selecting different transmission rates for each MIMO OFDM transmission, and transmitting the information bit stream from the transmitter via said multiple channels over a plurality of transmitter antennas to the receiver according to the selected transmission rate per channel. Selecting transmission rates further includes the steps of selecting the transmission rates based on the diversity order of each stream. The method selects different transmission modes for each MIMO OFDM transmission and provides a simple, fast and efficient scheme to select the transmission rate for each eigen-mode transmission.