By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Tech giant, Google says it is ready to pay the sum of Aus$55 million (US$36 million) penalty for striking “anti-competitive” deals, which allows it to pre-install only its own browser on Android mobile phones sold by two leading telecommunication companies in Australia.
According to Australia’s competition authority, it had launched proceedings in the Federal Court and jointly submitted with Google Asia Pacific that it go ahead and make payment for the fine.
In a statement on Monday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said the court would now decide if the agreed penalty and other orders were “appropriate”.
“Conduct that restricts competition is illegal in Australia because it usually means less choice, higher costs or worse service for consumers,” the commission’s chair, Gina-Cass Gottlieb said in the statement.
Google had cooperated with the competition commission and admitted reaching the deals with telecoms firms Telstra and Optus, which were in place from December 2019 to March 2021, the organisation stated.
It added that in return for only installing Google’s search engine, Telstra and Optus had received a share of the resulting advertising revenue.
“Google has admitted in reaching those understandings with each of Telstra and Optus, it was likely to have had the effect of substantially lessening competition,” says the commission.
Google said it was pleased to have resolved the regulator’s concerns over the provisions, adding that they had not been in its commercial agreements for “some time”.
“We are committed to providing Android device makers more flexibility to preload browsers and search apps,” a Google spokesperson said.
Telstra and Optus entered court-enforceable agreements last year not to make new agreements to pre-install Google search as the default on Android devices, the competition watchdog said.
