Summary
Mobile ecosystems built around smartphones increasingly represent the most important access route to the Internet, and thus also to content and products, but also to information, social contacts and more. New opportunities for benefits and value for users have thus also led to new societal and competition law concerns.
Dominant providers often control several access levels simultaneously, from end devices and hardware functionalities to operating system functions and distribution platforms such as app marketplaces, up to their own offerings at the service and content level. This overarching command makes it possible to control distribution and access channels to content on the one hand and end customers on the other, and to determine the respective terms and conditions unilaterally.
This has led to a growing competition law and regulatory focus on emerging issues such as self-preferencing, discriminatory access conditions or bundling requirements. This discussion paper therefore highlights and critically analyses various company strategies, allegations and regulatory proposals in the context of mobile ecosystems.
A particular focus is on the level of app marketplaces and alternative access routes to apps and content, as well as on the designated remedies of the European Digital Markets Act (DMA). Similarities and differences in an international comparison, potential hurdles in practical implementation and specification needs are identified.
