A blog about competition, regulation and privacy in the digital era
Spectrum is all around us. These invisible waves are essential for devices that communicate wirelessly. Whether using a mobile phone to make a phone call, send a text message or browse the web, the device will use spectrum to connect to a local mast and carry out your connection command. Only a finite amount of … Continue reading Vodafone/Three: a standalone decision or a potential reversal of spectrum policy?
Partners Damien Geradin and Stijn Huijts had the pleasure of sitting down with Joost Rietveld, an Associate Professor of Strategic Management at the UCL School of Management, University College London, to discuss his fascinating insights into platform competition and strategy. Joost has been a major contributor to the public debate in this area in the … Continue reading Interview with Joost Rietveld, UCL School of Management
On 25 March 2024, the Commission announced that it had opened non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into three of the companies that have been designated as gatekeepers, namely Alphabet, Apple, and Meta. These investigations concern various issues, including rules on steering in app stores, choice screens for browsers, self-preferencing in general search, … Continue reading Full steam ahead: The Commission announces DMA investigations three weeks after gatekeepers publish (non-)compliance reports
The UK’s mobile sector is highly competitive. Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, has spent the last few decades carefully designing spectrum auctions and other measures to foster fierce competition among the four mobile network operators. I’m currently paying £10 ($12.70) per month for unlimited 5G data on the best network for coverage. When I was at … Continue reading Vodafone/Three: UK telecoms consolidation will be given a rough ride through the merger control process
Partners Ruben Elkerbout and Stijn Huijts had the pleasure of catching up with Martijn Snoep, the head of the Dutch Competition Authority (ACM) recently. Mr Snoep moved to the ACM from law firm De Brauw in 2018. He has been at the forefront of many internationally renowned initiatives at the ACM, including an investigation into … Continue reading Interview with Martijn Snoep, Head of the Dutch competition authority
Today, the large digital platforms that have been designated by the European Commission as “gatekeepers” must start to comply with the Digital Markets Act (or DMA). This marks a milestone for businesses operating in the EU because the DMA will resolve many challenges they face in their relations with gatekeepers, such as lack of access … Continue reading 7 March is DMA D-Day: What does this mean?
For those of you that have been monitoring the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Bill's journey through Parliament, fear not. The end is in sight. Last November, my colleague Tom Smith wrote about the changes to the Bill as it was leaving the House of Commons. Since then, the Bill has received its first … Continue reading UK digital markets regime: The Lords have their say
I am very pleased that Fiona Scott Morton has accepted to be interviewed by the Platform Law Blog. Fiona is the Theodore Nierenberg at the Yale School of Management and one of the best IO economists in the world. She recently spent several months in Brussels as a research fellow at Bruegel, a leading think-tank. … Continue reading Interview of Fiona Scott Morton
Yesterday, Apple made an important announcement regarding changes to iOS, Safari, and the App Store in the European Union in response to the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”). This announcement covers a lot of ground and should be read in parallel with a number of accompanying documents. In this blog post, I discuss my first (and … Continue reading When Apple takes the European Commission for fools: An initial overview of Apple’s new terms and conditions for iOS app distribution in the EU
Fifteen years ago, the world was in the midst of a financial crisis and central bankers were forced to intervene to restore trust in the financial system. Banks were the biggest and most worrying actors in the corporate world. Central banks were the only game in town as unconventional policies such as Quantitative Easing and … Continue reading An interview with Sir Paul Tucker