Smart Mobility and Technological Compatibility from an Antitrust Perspective

Abstract

The development of smart mobility faces two main issues: data sharing and technological interoperability, which can be summed up by the expression ‘semantic interoperability’. This paper focuses on technological interoperability, using the antitrust experience as a benchmark to identify guidelines for possible interventions of public authorities in the market. To do so, the paper addresses both the different characterisations that antitrust law gives to incompatibility (predatory innovation, refusal to share interoperability codes, technical tying) and the main tool that firms can employ to create incompatibility: standard setting organisations (SSOs).