Google has been given a six-week extension until early September to respond to EU antitrust charges filed against its mobile operating system Android.
In April the European commission said Google’s requirement that mobile phone manufacturers pre-install Google Search and the Google’s Chrome browser in order to get access to other Google apps including the Google Play Store, the largest source of Android apps with more than 2m available, may harm consumers and competition.
“The commission has agreed to extend Google’s deadline to respond to its Statement of Objections concerning Android and its applications until 7 September. Google asked for additional time to review the documents in the case file,” an EC spokesman said.
The EU watchdog had originally given Google until 27 July to respond to the charges.
The company is facing fines up to $7.4bn (£5.6bn) or 10% of its global turnover for each antitrust case.
Google is also fighting an EU accusation that it favours its shopping service in search results over rivals, as well as complaints against its image search from Getty Images and Maps service.
Google’s Android operating system is used on more than 1.4bn devices worldwide, making it the market leader by a large margin.
Google did not respond to request for comment.
