Google has been given another extension to respond to European Union charges its Android mobile operating system is in breach of the region’s competition law.
The company must now send its response to the EC’s formal Statement of Objections by September 20 (via Reuters).
The EC originally gave Google until July 27 to respond to the charges it issued back in April, but extended that deadline to September 7 after Google asked for more time. The company has now received a second extension although this is the final one, according to a commission spokesperson.
We’ve reached out to Google for comment about the extension and will update this post with any response.
Specific allegations in EC’s Statement of Objections pertaining to the Android platform include that Google
- requires manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and Google’s Chrome browser and set Google Search as default search service on their devices, as a condition to license certain Google proprietary apps;
- prevents manufacturers from selling smart mobile devices running on competing operating systems based on the Android open source code;
- gives financial incentives to manufacturers and mobile network operators on condition that they exclusively pre-install Google Search on their devices.
Google recently lost a similar Android antitrust appeal in Russia after complaints from local rivals about how it controls usage of its mobile platform. And earlier this year Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service agency imposed a fine of 438M RUB (~$6.7M) on the U.S. search giant.
In the EC the stakes are higher, with Google’s parent company Alphabet facing a fine of up to 10 per cent of its global turnover — so up to $7.4 billion — if found guilt of breaching EU competition law.
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