Interoperability-Centric Problems: New Challenges and Legal Solutions

Abstract

Whereas abandonment of detailed regulation is widely asserted to be the true way along with the fluctuations of the business models and emergence of IP-based services, there still remain unanswered questions about regulatory treatment of interoperability in the converging environment of ICT markets. While interoperability is covered under mandatory solutions under a number of EU Directives, i.e. Access and Framework Directives, how to understand and reinforce it within converging markets, i.e. new media, telecom and IT markets is unclear on part of regulators as well as many practitioners. While generally interoperability requirements are determined in a disjunctive manner in separate industries, convergence turns interoperability into a common problem against development of ICTs. In fact, not only technical compatibility problems but also competitive failures, economic inefficiencies, and hazards to consumer welfare would arise out of insufficient interoperability. As a matter of fact, developers of digital devices, software applications as well as multimedia services inevitably find themselves in a complex world where they have to find interoperability solutions to compete effectively in the marketplace. To reverse this situation, both intraand inter-platform interoperability should be ensured with from a holistic ICT perspective. In the study, the individual policy choices pertaining to separate industries are discussed primarily, and a set of inferences relating to interoperability-related problems are put in place. In this regard, this study elaborates both general concerns and specific topics with regard to ensuring interoperability such as the NGN-related challenges, net neutrality discussions. As well, how (non-)interoperability is dealt with in new media and IT industries is touched in conjunction with the Commission’s Microsoft decision as well as the relevant Community legislation. Ultimately it is asserted that, without diagnosis and cure of service-level interoperability challenges alongside network-level threats, neither newlybuilt NGNs nor IP-based convergence would bring out the intended level of innovative end-to-end services.