Google and Apple have ?vice-like grip? on UK mobiles, warns regulator

Apple and Google have a "vice-like grip" over people's mobile phones and their duopoly over the market should be investigated by the proposed new "big tech" regulator, the UK's competition watchdog has said.

The two companies effectively control users' mobile phone experience in the UK, with Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems installed on 99.45% of all phones in use in the country.

"Apple and Google have developed a vice-like grip over how we use mobile phones and we're concerned that it's causing millions of people across the UK to lose out," said Andrea Coscelli, the chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which published its interim report investigating the dominance of the tech giants in the UK mobile ecosystem on Tuesday.

Once a consumer buys a phone they are essentially wedded to the ecosystem of one of the two companies - Apple's App Store or Google's Play Store and their respective web browsers Safari or Chrome.

The CMA said the two Silicon Valley giants can control the content phone users can access, "tilt the playing field" towards their own services, and stifle competition by blocking rivals services and pre-installing their own software on devices.

"Most people know that Apple and Google are the main players when it comes to choosing a phone," said Coscelli. "But it can be easy to forget that they set all the rules too - from determining which apps are available on their app stores, to making it difficult for us to switch to alternative browsers on our phones. This control can limit innovation and choice, and lead to higher prices - none of which is good news for users."

The CMA said it was concerned that this was leading to less competition and meaningful choice for customers, who are missing out on the full benefit of new products and services, such as cloud-based gaming offered by firms not supported by Apple or Google.