INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Google has confirmed the expected, that it will indeed appeal the record $5 billion fine that it washanded today by European antitrust
regulators forabusing the dominance of its Android operating system.
The European Commission announced that it is fining the U.S
firm for &three types of restrictions that [it] has imposed on Android device manufacturers and network operators to ensure that traffic on
Android devices goes to the Google search engine.&
The press conference announcing the investigation, which has been eight years in the
making, remains ongoing as of writing, but Google has already issued a short statement that confirms its intention to appeal.
&Android has
created more choice for everyone, not less
A vibrant ecosystem, rapid innovation and lower prices are classic hallmarks of robust competition
We will appeal the Commission decision,& it said in a tweet.
We&re breaking out the specific details as we learn them in this post, but here
the core gist.
Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager tweeteddetails of the penalty and explained more in an initial statement:
Today,
mobile internet makes up more than half of global internet traffic
It has changed the lives of millions of Europeans
Our case is about three types of restrictions that Google has imposed onAndroiddevice manufacturers and network operators to ensure that
traffic on Android devices goes to the Google search engine
In this way, Google has used Android as a vehicle to cement the dominance of its search engine
These practices have denied rivals the chance to innovate and compete on the merits
They have denied European consumers the benefits of effective competition in the important mobile sphere
This is illegal under EU antitrust rules.
In particular, theEC has decidedthat Google:
Has required manufacturers to pre-install the Google
Search app and browser app (Chrome), as a condition for licensing Google app store (the Play Store);
Made payments to certain large
manufacturers and mobile network operators on condition that they exclusively pre-installed the Google Search app on their devices
And has
prevented manufacturers wishing to pre-install Google apps from selling even a single smart mobile device running on alternative versions of
Android that were not approved by Google (so-called &Android forks&).
The decision also concludes that Google is dominant in the markets
forgeneral internet search service, licensable smart mobile operating systems, andapp stores for the Android mobile operating
system.
Google gets slapped $5BN by EU for Android antitrust abuse
