France’s Competition Authority is investigating potential anticompetitive practices in the mobile app store market, according to French publication BFM Business.

Bruno Lasserre, the regulator’s president, said the organisation is concerned about “a model that is not favourable to consumers, who are locked in for the long term after they make their initial choice”.

The regulator wants “to verify that the app market was sufficiently competitive, that app publishers can access this ecosystem, and that the tariffs they pay are not discriminatory”, the president added.

Lasserre also noted that the app store market remains “a very concentrated oligopoly”.

Olivier Schrameck, the chairman of CSA, the French media authority, recently said the distribution regulations can’t continue to ignore the “crucial role” played by app platforms, along with connected devices, ISPs and TV broadcasters.