[Object] Provided is a mechanism for enabling efficient signaling to control operation modes of small cells in an environment where a number of small cells are deployed.[Solution] Provided is a communication control apparatus including: a communication unit configured to communicate with each of communication nodes operating a plurality of small cells, each of which belongs to at least one of a plurality of small cell groups; a determining unit configured to determine whether operation modes of the plurality of small cells should be set to be an active mode in units of the small cell groups; and a signaling unit configured to signal a control message for specifying the operation modes in units of the small cell groups, determined by the determining unit to the communication nodes via the communication unit.