From the descriptions, and clause 2.1.4 of the 3GPP report at http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/tsg_ran/TSG_RAN/TSGR_26/Docs/PDF/RP-040496.pdf it would seem this is an effort to improve efficiency/throughput between the MS and the base station - possibly incorporating WLAN as one physical layer.
It's being seen as a counter to 802.16. However, if they are considering seamless handover between multiple physical layers, it would seem to be of direct interest to this group.