A government panel Friday drew up a set of regulations aimed at opening up the smartphone app stores of U.S. technology giants Apple and Google to competition.
The two companies dominating the smartphone operating system market will be obliged to allow their users to download apps by using services other than their own app stores. The government hopes that the move will spur competition and lead to app price drops.
The smartphone OS market is occupied almost entirely by Apple's iOS and Google's Android. The companies control how apps are installed and paid for on their iPhones and Android devices.