Anti-trust charges are finally responded to by Intel

8 Jan 2008

Intel has responded to the European Commission's anti-trust charges. The organisation has confirmed that, after some delay, it had received responses from the chip maker.

"We have received the company's response and are examining it carefully," said a person close to the competition department.

In July the Commission accused the world's biggest maker of computer chips of handing out "substantial rebates" to computer manufacturers in return for buying the bulk of their x86 chips from Intel.

It also accused the company of paying computer makers for scrapping or delaying the launch of machines fitted with AMD chips, and of selling its chips for server computers at below cost to large customers such as governments and universities.

Such practices are illegal under European anti-trust law when applied by companies that dominate their market, as Intel does.

In addition to the written response, Intel has also asked the Commission for the opportunity to respond to the charges face-to-face in an oral hearing, said Chuck Mulloy, a company spokesman. The Commission will decide the date's oral hearing.

"It will be a while before the hearing. The Commission staff will have to read our substantial response," Mulloy said.

Intel asked twice for extra time to prepare the written response. The initial deadline was in October. That was shifted to 4 January. Then, as the new deadline loomed, Intel asked for the weekend to complete the document.

"There were some loose ends that needed to be addressed. It was nothing unusual," Mulloy said.

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