Transatlantic Cooperation Through Regulation of Wireless Technologies: Institutional Aspects, Global Power, and Geopolitical Challenges

Investigator:
Olia Kanevskaia

Abstract:
Our society is characterized by the increasing use of wireless technologies for everyday activities. Examples of these technologies are wireless connectivity standards – documents and specifications that enable connection between electronic devices, such as the 5th Generation of wireless communication networks (5G), Internet protocols and Wi-Fi networks. To a large extent, these technologies are created by commercial actors capable of large-scale R&D investments. In the US and EU, regulation of such highly specialized technological industries is usually a matter of (semi-)private, sector specific regimes and regulatory arrangements.

Recently, however, States demonstrated an increasing interest in the regulation of wireless technologies, and especially wireless standards. Among other things, this shift from a “private” to a more “public” or “formalized” approach is evidenced by new policies on both sides of the Atlantic that (in)directly target (wireless) standardization, such as the New European Standardization Policy and the US Innovation and Competition Act; as well as by the creation of new regulatory or advisory transatlantic institutions, such as the US-EU Trade and Technology Council. This shall bring the wireless technology development closer to State-regulation, and it does not only challenge the traditionally private landscape of the wireless industry, but also raises a number of questions regarding the legitimacy of the new institutions and the effectiveness of the new policies, especially when it comes to the realization of the transatlantic technology cooperation.

Against this backdrop, this research project aims to map how the US and EU cooperate in wireless technology standardization, given the geopolitical, technological and societal challenges they have to overcome; and to reveal whether this cooperation increases the legitimacy of global wireless standards, focusing in particular on the representation of interests in the regulatory bodies.