Interoperability provision in NGC: the case of Italian DTV

Nicola Matteucci, José‐Luis Gómez‐Barroso
2009 Info  
PURPOSE: The deployment of next generation communications (NGC) progresses unevenly, frequently suffering from insufficient interoperability. Interoperability remains a fundamental driver for NGC diffusion, but existing theories remain vague on how to ensure its provision. Since interoperability features increasing returns and public good regimes, its market provision may be hampered. At the same time, public efforts might be ineffective when colliding with private operators' incentives.
more » ... es, the policy instruments used might even distort technological diffusion and competition in a way incompatible with a market-neutral approach. DESIGN: This paper first reviews the literature on the economics of standardization, the provision of private and public goods and the regulation of NGC. Then, it illustrates the EU policy on Interactive TV. Finally, it presents a research case study, analysing the recent implementation of this policy in Italy. FINDINGS: Coherently with the hypothesis of the literature, the case study confirms that the public-private interplay for interoperability is complex, and the public and subsidized provision of an open standard might be captured by private interests. RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS: The case study is representative of the dilemmas affecting future policy-making in NGC. More case-studies will corroborate the above findings, better clarifying the available options to ensure a virtuous public private interplay. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Policy should be carefully framed in a way to impose marketneutral implementations. Further, open standards -although valuable -are not a panacea and can be useless when systemically tied to other proprietary intellectual property rights (IPRs).
doi:10.1108/14636690910996704 fatcat:55nfuonhgzg7pmz4pz5kl2upse