Google Hit With A$55 Million Fine In Australia For Telco Agreements

Sydney, Australia: On Monday, Google agreed to pay a A$55 million ($35.8 million) fine in Australia after its consumer regulator took action against the company’s ‘anti-competitive’ arrangements with telecom operators Telstra and Singapore Telecommunications-owned Optus.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) held that Google Asia Pacific reached “understandings” with the country’s two largest telcos between December 2019 and March 2021 to pre-install its search application on Android phones sold by the carriers.

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In exchange, Google gave Telstra and Optus a portion of the ad revenue it earned from Google Search on their customers’ Android phones, the consumer regulator added.

Google admitted about the arrangement and it had incurred a substantial impact on competition from rival search engines. The tech giant claimed that it had stopped signing similar deals while also agreeing to the fine.

The ACCC and Google have made a joint submission to the Federal Court, proposing that the company pay a A$55 million fine.

As per the new agreement, Google’s parent company, Google LLC, and Google Asia Pacific have pledged to the regulator that they will remove certain pre-installation and default search engine rules from their contracts with Android phone manufacturers and telcos.

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In a statement, ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said: “Today’s outcome created the potential for millions of Australians to have greater search choice in the future, and for competing search providers to gain meaningful exposure to Australian consumers.”