Collaborative Platforms and Data Pools for Smart Urban Societies and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) from a Competition Law Perspective

In smart urban settings, all devices and service providers monitor, collect and exchange data whilst device producers and service providers store, distribute, analyse and re-use data on a grand scale. If firms would like to combine such data, they need to give each other access by sharing, trading or pooling the data. On the one hand, the industry-wide pooling of data could increase the efficiency of certain services and contribute to the innovation of other services, e.g. whole transport networks that are available on one platform, or Mobility as a Service (MaaS). On the other hand, firms that pool business data may use the data not to advance their services or products but to collude, to exclude competitors or to abuse their market position. Indeed, by combining their data and collaborating they can gain market power and hence the ability to violate competition law. Platforms can also hoard data and design the data architecture so as to become system leaders in vertical value chains, exclusively obtaining all data from various sources and creating a silo or ecosystem. This chapter will discuss a new platform configuration regarding transport services. The platform is being developed and discussed according to the notion of MaaS. MaaS is a new transport paradigm that integrates existing and new mobility services as well as public and private transport services into one single digital platform, providing customised door-to-door transport and offering personalised trip planning and payment options. The development of integrated multimodal information systems and integrated payment solutions has enabled the MaaS concept to unfold. We will analyse the MaaS concept from a competition law perspective, asking whether the concept might be in violation of EU Competition Law, specifically Arts. 101 and 102 TFEU.