On April 21, 2022, NTIA published in the Federal Register a Notice seeking comment on the state of competition in the mobile application ecosystem. The Notice is issued in response to a July 9, 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, which tasked NTIA, in consultation with the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and other relevant agencies, with conducting a study on the mobile application ecosystem and submitting a report to the Chair of the White House Competition Council regarding its findings and providing recommendations for improving competition, reducing barriers to entry, and maximizing user benefits with respect to the ecosystem. The Notice seeks comment on the following:
- The unique aspects of competition involving apps on mobile phones and tablets, including how NITA should measure competitiveness, the types of entities that should be included or omitted, how to account for variances in app purposes (e.g., medical apps, location based apps, messaging apps, children’s learning apps, etc.), and how to account for differences in generated income and downloads, among other things.
- The unique advantages and obstacles for app development, particularly for start-ups, including obstacles that prevent development from different communities, how varying operating systems affect app development, the role of interoperability in competition, how policy decisions by firms that operate app stores impact app developers, and labor restrictions or pipeline challenges that app developers face, among other things.
- The avenues for app distribution, including whether there are advantages for apps that are preloaded versus those that must be downloaded, the level of control of app access exercised by mobile app stores, how alternative app stores (other than Google Play or the Apple App Store for example) would affect competition, whether the app store model is necessary in general and to prevent fraudulent apps and malware, and how imposter and fraudulent apps affect developer incentives, among other things.
- The types of apps consumers use and types of consumers, including how often consumers download or try new apps, how consumers find and make decisions to use apps, and whether apps developed for specific communities (such as by income, ethnicity/race, or gender) face significantly different competitive challenges, among other things.
- Other significant factors, including whether there are valid security reasons for preventing access to additional mobile device components or operating systems, what challenges software updates pose for developers, and whether there are governance practices, regulations, or laws that impact competition among certain categories of apps more than others, among other things.
- What potential actions can be taken to increase competition, including whether there are specific measures the federal government can take to foster healthy competition and actions the private sector or civil society could take to ensure and promote competition.
NTIA encourages all types of entities that interact with this interrelated market to comment, including mobile service providers, broadband service providers, app developers, businesses, and consumers, recognizing that the mobile ecosystem affects large groups of people in varying ways.
Comments are due on or before 11:59 PM Eastern Time on May 23, 2022.
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