SINGAPUR (dpa-AFX) - European Union has ordered Broadcom (AVG) to stop applying certain exclusivity agreements with six of its main customers.
According to European Union, this will prevent serious and irreparable harm to competition likely to be caused by Broadcom's conduct.
In June, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation into Broadcom, to assess whether the company restricted competition in various markets for these chipsets and components for so-called central office/head end equipment by means of certain practices, including exclusivity, tying, bundling, interoperability degradation and abusive use of intellectual property rights.
As part of this investigation, the Commission announced Wednesday that it's imposing interim measures to prevent any likely 'harm' to competition, for three years. Broadcom must comply with these measures within 30 days from Wednesday.
'We have strong indications that Broadcom, the world's leading supplier of chipsets used for TV set-top boxes and modems, is engaging in anti-competitive practices,' Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition chief, said in a statement.
'We cannot let this happen, or else European customers and consumers would face higher prices and less choice and innovation. We, therefore, ordered Broadcom to immediately stop its conduct,' Vestager added.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX