EU regulator begins IoT competition inquiry
The European Commission has launched a competition inquiry into the Internet of Things (IoT) sector, focusing on potentially abusive practices related to standards and data.
The sector inquiry will deal with consumer products that are connected to a network and can be controlled at a distance, including wearable devices like smart watches.
“Despite the relatively early stage of development of the sector for the IoT for consumer-related products and services in the EU, there are indications that certain company practices may structurally distort competition,” said a Commission announcement.
It continued: “In particular, there are indications relating to restrictions of data access and interoperability, as well as certain forms of self-preferencing and practices linked to the use of proprietary standards.”
IoT devices rely on standards for the technologies that make it possible for the devices to communicate with each other.
These standards are also accompanied by a commitment to license the essential technologies on a fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) basis.
In the telecommunications sector, which relies on many of the same standards as IoT, there have been multiple high-profile disputes over what constitutes a FRAND licence.
Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for competition, said the IoT was expected to “grow significantly in the coming years and become commonplace in the daily lives of European consumers”.
Vestager added: “But access to large amounts of user data appears to be the key for success in this sector, so we have to make sure that market players are not using their control over such data to distort competition, or otherwise close off these markets for competitors.This sector inquiry will help us better understand the nature and likely effects of the possible competition problems in this sector.”
The Commission will begin contacting “active players” in the IoT sector in the coming weeks, and may require them to hand over documents and other information.
A preliminary report is expected to be published in the spring of 2021, with the final report following in the summer of 2022.The inquiry could also result in more specific investigations, if abusive business practices are identified, the Commission said.
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