CUPERTINO (dpa-AFX) - Thursday, the Competition and Markets Authority of UK announced the launch of strategic market status investigations into mobile ecosystems. The investigation will comprise of the operating systems, app stores, and mobile browsers of Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOG)-owned Google.
The investigation comes as all the mobiles sold in the nation are pre-installed with Apple's iOS or Google's Android, showing that these two tech giants have a significant influence over the content, service,s and technological development provided on mobile phones.
The regulator would assess the extent of competition between both company's mobile ecosystems, and determine whether they are utilizing their popularity to favor their own apps and services over others.
The Competition and Markets Authority added that it would investigate whether Apple or Google are engaging in exploitative activities requiring other app developers to sign up to unfair terms and conditions to be a part of their app stores, and whether the companies' policies are hindering user freedom to choose which apps to install on their mobile phones.
Moreover, the competition watchdog would also evaluate the impact of mobile ecosystems on individuals, businesses, and app developers to ensure healthy competition and equality in the UK market.
As part of the investigation, scheduled to conclude by October end, the Competition and Markets Authority would focus on engaging a wide range of stakeholders, involving device manufacturers, software developers, and user groups, as well as gathering evidence from the technology companies.
The Authority noted that potential conduct measures might require Apple and Google to provide access to key functionalities required by other apps to function on mobile phones, and enable users to download apps as well as make payments outside their respective app stores.
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