Mexico to investigate monopolistic practices in digital services market

The Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) of Mexico announced that it had launched an investigation into the digital services market, as well as any digital products and services. A notice in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF) was released announcing the initiation of an investigation into a complaint identified with file number DE-023-2022. The complaint alleges possible monopolistic practices in the market for developing, marketing, and selling digital goods and related services. The COFECE did not mention any particular company related to the case, as is customary during investigations. The case is under the jurisdiction of the directorate general of market investigations, and the investigation is expected to last a minimum of 30 working days and a maximum of 120 days.

It is worth noting that in Mexico, two autonomous constitutional agencies promote and ensure competition: COFECE and the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT). COFECE serves as the competition authority for all sectors of the economy, with the exception of telecommunications and broadcasting. In these sectors, the IFT takes on the role of competition authority and possesses powers equivalent to those of COFECE in all other sectors. However, even though the Federal Economic Competition Law (LFCE) specifies the competencies of each institution, any disputes over their competence would be resolved in the Collegiate Circuit Courts, which specialise in administrative matters, economic competition, broadcasting, and telecommunications. In 2021, the IFT suspended its investigation into competition in digital markets of technology giants due to COFECE claiming to be the competent body to conduct the investigation instead of the IFT.