IFT initiates an investigation in the markets of Internet search engines, social media, mobile operating systems, cloud computing and storage and other related services in order to determine the possible existence of barriers to competition and/or essential inputs.
The Federal Telecommunications Institute (“IFT”) announced on October 22, 2020, the start of an investigation in the markets of Internet search engines, social media, mobile operating systems, cloud computing and storage and other related services in order to determine the possible existence of barriers to competition and/or essential inputs that may cause anticompetitive effects. Under the Federal Antitrust Statute (“LFCE”), this is essentially a market probe launched by the IFT in order to assess whether structural or behavioral distortions exist such that there is no effective competition.
The launch of the investigation does not mean that the IFT has at the outset concluded that there are barriers to competition or no effective competition in a particular market or that a specific participant is investigated, however as a result of its investigation it can determine that competition is in fact distorted or that a certain participant’s conduct warrants behavioral measures.
IFT’s prosecution office (“PO”) has three periods of 120 days, starting on the date of publication in the Federal Official Gazette to carry out its investigation, October 22, 2020. Once the investigation is concluded, the PC has 60 business days to issue a Preliminary Opinion (“Opinion”). The Preliminary Opinion is a document that contains the PO’s conclusions as to whether there are competition problems in the marketplace, and what are the ideal measures that have to be taken to correct them. The PO can only make non-binding recommendations to authorities and other regulators, however, it is important to state, that it can order economic entities to stop a practice or conduct and it can even divest them as a last resort.
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