LONDON - Britain’s newly formed competition regulator plans to use “big data†to identify industries where traditional players are stifling competition from online rivals, the regulator’s chairman said on Tuesday.
In a speech at the European Consumer Summit meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, David Currie, chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority, announced a new research project to identify sectors where incumbent companies use their advantage to block the emergence of online business models and competition.
“This will use ‘big data’ techniques to identify sectors of the economy where online commerce is developing more slowly than might be expected, so it can investigate whether this is because incumbents have acted anticompetitively to block entry or innovation by online competitors or innovators,†according to the prepared text of Mr. Currie’s speech.
The new watchdog was created by the combination of Britain’s Competition Commission with certain consumer functions of the Office of Fair Trading. It officially began operation on Tuesday.
