MEXICO CITY, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Apple (AAPL.O) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google are facing a probe over anti-competitive practices in Mexico after the country’s former telecommunications chief filed a complaint, he said in a statement on Twitter on Friday.
The complaint was brought to Mexico’s telecommunications regulator IFT yesterday by Mony de Swaan Addati, who once headed the former telecommunications federation that was later replaced by IFT.
His complaint accuses Apple and Google of “completely inhibit(ing) competition” by “taking advantage of their monopoly in app stores to tie use of their own payment processing systems for in-app purchases.”
In his online statement, de Swaan Addati said Google’s Play store and Apple’s store charge 15%-20% commission, forcing price inflation.
Google declined to comment. Apple and the IFT were not immediately available for comment.
A wave of lawsuits and complaints challenging the pair’s app store rules in various countries over recent years has led Google to lower fees and Apple to loosen rules, but some app developers and other critics say more changes are needed.
De Swaan Addati added that Mexico’s competition regulator had declined his request to open an investigation into the companies, prompting him to take his case to the IFT.
“I have full confidence that (the IFT) will investigate and exercise its powers – in line with international best practices – so that these companies stop abusing their market power to the detriment of developers and consumers,” he said.
According to data firm Statista, over 30 million smartphones were forecast to be sold in Mexico last year.
Google’s Android has the largest market share in Mexico with 77% penetration, according to the latest data from Statcounter.
Apple is facing scrutiny elsewhere in the region, with Brazilian regulators having banned the sale of iPhones without a charger earlier this week.
Subscribe here for just .08 cents per day to read subscriber content, join the PVDN newsletter, and browse with site ad-free. Support local news.
Trending news on PVDN
- EGates: state-of-the-art technology coming to Puerto Vallarta airport In order to guarantee fluid and fast access to international travelers, Mexico adds three more destinations with EGates technology: Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, and Los Cabos. The commissioner of the National Institute of Migration (INM), Francisco Garduño Yáñez, verified the operation of the 18 E-Gates -automated migration filters- installed at the Cancun International Airport, Quintana Roo,…
- Government stops construction on four condominium developments in Puerto Vallarta for violations The Secretary of Environment (Semarnat) in Jalisco, Raúl Rodgríguez Rosales, reported that the government agency stopped the construction of four condominium developments in Puerto Vallarta for not complying with regulations.
- Did the United States Government work with Mexican cartels to import drugs? Yes, according to a congressman in Mexico “I maintain that the United States government decides which narco to favor so that it supplies the country with drugs,” explains Mexican politician, PT Deputy Gerardo Fernández Noroña, who 12 years after shouting “murderer” at Genaro García Luna, then secretary of Security, assures that the US is only now putting Luna on trial because he…
- Taxi driver who intentionally ran over a woman and killed her in Puerto Vallarta has been arrested Puerto Vallarta (PVDN) – On Sunday afternoon, Érika Noemí Chávez Cruz and her seven-year-old son were at Conchas Chinas beach, in Puerto Vallarta, with her presumed boyfriend, a taxi driver, according to police reports. After the couple has an argument, Érika and her son left on foot. The boyfriend boarded his taxi and ran over…
- Biblioteca Los Mangos needs your help after a decline in donations during the pandemic ‘Biblioteca Los Mangos’ – Los Mangos Library, (located at Av. Francisco Villa 1001, right around the corner from the Costco on Av. Fluvial in Puerto Vallarta,) is a non-profit institution that, unlike libraries in many other countries, receives no local or federal public funding. Consider making a donation to Biblioteca Los Mangos here Located in…