COOPERATIVE STRATEGIES IN STANDARD SETTING IN THE GLOBAL WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY

This study explores firms’ cooperative standard-setting strategies in wireless telecommunications through a quantitative study of the members of one standards development organization, the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). A special focus is on firms’ cooperation activities outside of 3GPP, particularly in industry consortia and fora. The results suggest that dense external connections to other 3GPP members help firms make an impact on standards development within 3GPP. Effective standard-setting strategies thus involve setting up a constellation of cooperative arrangements within the industry to maximize opportunities to influence peers. These results point to the significant role played by private and semipublic cooperative arrangements in determining standardization outcomes. To facilitate open access to standardization and subsequently to network markets, standards policymakers might consider financially supporting consortia activity of small firms and establishing rules about open membership.

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