Shared systems
This guide explains the role of shared systems in market structure and considers how these principles can help support an open and competitive future for audiovisual media.
The role of shared systems
Every successful market depends upon shared systems. Effective competition depends upon a clear distinction between those elements that markets share and those through which organisations compete.
Competition creates value. Shared systems make competition possible.
The structure of every market is determined by what systems are shared and where organisations compete.
What do we mean by shared systems?
Shared systems are those functions that participants in a market rely upon collectively, regardless of where they compete. They provide common capabilities that enable organisations to compete effectively while avoiding unnecessary duplication, fragmentation or barriers to participation.
Shared systems are a feature of market design rather than technology. They may include infrastructure, standards, governance, operational processes or common services. What they have in common is that they support the operation of the market itself rather than providing competitive advantage to any individual participant.
Why do markets require shared systems?
Successful markets depend upon competition supported by shared systems. Organisations compete to create value, but they also rely upon shared systems that enable the market itself to function.
Some functions are more effective when shared than duplicated. Sharing these functions reduces unnecessary costs, lowers barriers to entry and helps avoid forms of market failure that arise through fragmentation or incompatible systems. It allows organisations to focus their investment on the products and services through which they differentiate, rather than recreating the same underlying capabilities.
Well-designed shared systems help markets:
- Reduce duplication through shared market capabilities.
- Enable competition through differentiated products and services.
- Lower barriers to entry for new market participants.
- Improve efficiency through economies of scale.
- Support interoperability between independent organisations.
- Protect consumers from complexity and fragmentation.
- Deliver policy objectives beyond market incentives alone.
The question is therefore not whether organisations should share systems, but which systems should be shared in order to support effective competition.
What are examples of shared systems?
Shared systems exist throughout the economy. They often become so familiar that they are taken for granted, yet they provide the common foundation upon which competitive markets depend.
Banking — Banks compete through their products, pricing and customer service, yet rely upon shared payment systems that allow money to move securely between financial institutions. Customers expect payments to work regardless of which bank they use. Shared systems make competition possible by providing trust and interoperability across the market.
Communications — Mobile network operators compete through coverage, performance and customer service, while relying upon shared systems including international standards, numbering plans and roaming arrangements. Consumers expect devices and networks from different providers to interoperate seamlessly, whether across town or across the world.
Aviation — Airlines compete for passengers, routes and commercial success, yet depend upon shared systems including air traffic management, navigation, airport operations and internationally agreed standards. These shared systems enable airlines to operate safely and efficiently within a single global market.
The internet itself provides an example of shared systems in operation. Although made up of thousands of independently operated networks, it functions because those networks participate in common protocols, addressing systems and technical standards. The internet succeeds because independent organisations share the systems that make interoperability possible.
How do consumers benefit from shared systems?
Consumers rarely choose markets because of their underlying systems. They judge them by how easily they can achieve what they want. Shared systems reduce friction, increase choice and make it easier to move between competing providers.
Consumers benefit from shared systems through:
- Greater choice by making services from different providers easier to access.
- Less complexity by reducing the need to learn different systems for similar tasks.
- Better interoperability between devices, applications and service providers.
- Improved accessibility to serve audiences with different needs.
- Lower switching costs to facilitate movement between different providers.
- Reduced gatekeeping by supporting open participation and consumer choice.
The value of shared systems often becomes most apparent when they are absent. Multiple accounts, incompatible interfaces and fragmented user experiences are frequently symptoms of systems that have evolved independently rather than being designed to support an open market.
What should organisations compete over in media markets?
Shared systems are not intended to reduce competition. They are intended to ensure that competition takes place where it delivers the greatest value.
In audiovisual media, broadcasters and service providers should compete through journalism, programming, editorial judgement, user experience, innovation and the quality of the services they offer. These are the areas in which differentiation benefits audiences and encourages investment.
The systems that enable audiences to discover, access and use those services are different. Where these functions can be shared without limiting innovation, they can strengthen the market by reducing duplication, improving interoperability and making services easier for audiences to find and enjoy.
Why does broadcasting depend on shared systems?
Broadcasting has always depended upon shared systems. Spectrum planning, transmission infrastructure, technical standards and regulatory frameworks have provided the common foundation upon which broadcasters compete.
These shared systems have been so successful that they are often taken for granted. They enable audiences to receive services from many providers through a common platform while allowing broadcasters to compete through the programmes, journalism and services they create.
Rather than limiting competition, these shared systems have helped create one of the most open, accessible and widely available media markets in the world.
Why does online media delivery require shared systems?
The transition to online delivery changes the systems that markets need to share. It does not remove the need for shared systems altogether.
Closed online platforms have demonstrated the value of common systems by providing integrated discovery, identity, payments and service access within their own ecosystems. However, these benefits are generally available only within individual platforms, requiring consumers to manage multiple accounts, navigate different interfaces and discover services separately.
The challenge for open media markets is to provide shared systems that deliver similar benefits without requiring dependence upon a single platform or gatekeeper.
Discovery is one example of such a shared system. By helping audiences find services through common mechanisms, it can strengthen competition between providers while preserving openness, interoperability and consumer choice.
What principles should guide shared systems for public service media?
Shared systems should support the public policy objectives that have traditionally underpinned broadcasting while remaining compatible with open and competitive markets.
The principles should promote:
- Universal availability so services remain accessible to everyone.
- Free to the public without requiring payment at the point of use.
- Anonymous reception with no personal identification.
- Accessibility for audiences with different needs and abilities.
- Open participation so new services can enter the market fairly.
- Freedom from gatekeepers that restrict consumer choice.
- Interoperability through open standards wherever practical.
- Consumer choice between competing services within a common framework.
These principles are not unique to broadcasting. They reflect the characteristics of successful shared systems across many sectors of the economy.
Conclusion
Shared systems are a fundamental characteristic of successful markets. They provide the common capabilities that enable organisations to compete effectively while supporting wider economic and public policy objectives.
As television evolves from traditional broadcasting towards online delivery, the question is no longer whether shared systems are required, but what should markets share, and where should organisations compete?
Markets compete through products and services. Markets succeed through shared systems.
Discovery is one example where a shared system can strengthen competition while improving the experience for audiences. Open standards provide one means of implementing such shared systems, while the Service List Registry demonstrates how these principles can be applied in practice to support an open, competitive and interoperable media market.