EU: Commission eyes Google Android contracts

The European Commission has reportedly contacted phone manufacturers to inquire about their contracts with Google-owned Android in efforts to determine whether any of those contracts may be restrictive or anticompetitive.

According to unnamed sources, the Commission has not yet opened an investigation into the matter but has sent letters to phone makers one month ago. Reports note that similar letters were sent last year, a matter that did not escalate into a full-scale competition probe.

While Almunia confirmed in June that the Commission’s investigation into Android contracts was the most advanced out of all Google probes, the latest reports shed more light on the matter. Unnamed sources said that the Commission is particularly concerned with “lockout” clauses in Google’s Mobile Application distribution Agreement. Such clauses would bar phone makers from making phones that run on software that competes with the Android OS.

Android holds a market share of about 70-80 percent across Europe, Almunia said last month.

Full content: The Register

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.