FILE PHOTO: European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager holds a news conference at the EU Commission’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 4, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo
July 17, 2018
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager will brief Google CEO Sundar Pichai by telephone later on Tuesday on her ruling on the company’s Android mobile operating system, a person familiar with the matter said.
The phone call is in line with EU regulatory procedures whereby companies are informed of an imminent antitrust decision.
The European Commission and Google declined to comment.
Vestager is set to levy a record-breaking fine and order Google to halt its anti-competitive business practices on Wednesday, sources have told Reuters.
Her ruling comes just over a year after she slapped a landmark 2.4-billion-euro ($2.80 billion) penalty on Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc, for promoting its shopping service over those of competitors.
The Android penalty is likely to exceed the 2017 fine because of the broader scope of the Android case, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)
