LOC14:57
11:57 GMT
Press conference of Margrethe Vestager EU Commissiner in charge of Competition on Google
BRUSSELS, July 18 (KUNA) -- The European Commission announced Wednesday fines of EUR 4.34 billion (USD five billion) on Google for illegal practices regarding Android mobile devices.
EU Commissioner for competition policy Margrethe Vestager told a press conference "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 on Android device 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," she said.
Google must now bring the conduct effectively to an end within 90 days or face penalty payments of up to five percent of the average daily worldwide turnover of Alphabet, Google's parent company, she noted. (end)
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