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Google faces EU competition probe on Android sales - report
2013-06-14 09:11:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) Google is facing an investigation in the EU into allegations that it supported the Android smartphone platform and its mobile services through cut-price licensing and exclusivity deals. According to documents seen by the Financial Times, the European Commission has focused on allegedly anti-competitive deals struck between the US technology company and smartphone providers. The informal probe, which is at a preliminary stage, follows recent complaints by companies including Microsoft and Nokia. These allegations include the licensing of Android software "below cost", according to the documents, and "potential requests by Google to cancel and/or delay the launch of smartphone devices" based on competing operating systems or shipped with rival mobile services. The commission will also consider whether Google imposed exclusivity agreements with mobile device makers regarding the pre-installation and placement of Google's services typically supplied with Android devices, such as YouTube. In response, Google said: "Android is an open platform that fosters competition. Handset makers, carriers and consumers can decide how to use Android, including which applications they want to use." The commission has called for information in a 23-page questionnaire sent to device makers and mobile operators, although the request does not mean that the commission will necessarily embark on a formal investigation of Google's sales practices. The 82 questions ask for a wide range of information from European groups relating to mobile operating systems and preinstalled services since January 2009.While the commission's informal investigation of Android has been open for more than a year, the probe took on sharper focus when 14 companies including Microsoft, Oracle and Nokia lodged a formal complaint in April about Google allegedly abusing its dominance.
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sales
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Category:Telecommunications