The European Union General Court allowed a number of technology companies to intervene in Google LLC's appeal against a €4.34 billion fine imposed by the European Commission over Android-related antitrust violations, Reuters reported, citing a court document.
The companies permitted to intervene in the Alphabet Inc. unit's appeal include Germany's Gigaset Communications GmbH, Finland's HMD Global Oy and Opera Software. Tech groups Application Developers Alliance and the Computer and Communications Industry Association, will also join to support Google.
Czech search engine Seznam.cz as, French search engine Qwant SAS and two German publishing groups, VDZ and BDZV, will intervene in support of the European Commission. The European Consumer Organisation, FairSearch whose complaint triggered the case, are also supporting the EC in the appeal.
The court proceedings are anticipated to start next year.
After EC revealed its decision in July 2018, Google filed the appeal in October 2018, with CEO Sundar Pichai mainly saying that Android has created more choice for consumers, not less. Despite countering the ruling, Google, in a move to comply with the EC, began giving Android device users in Europe the option to choose their preferred search engine and browser.
