EU orders chipmaker Broadcom to change business practices

BRUSSELS – European regulators have ordered chipmaker Broadcom to change the way it does business with key customers over competition concerns.

EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said Wednesday that her department had “strong indications” that Broadcom is “engaging in anticompetitive practices.”

Her office opened an investigation in June into whether the world’s leading supplier of chipsets for TV set-top boxes and modems included terms of exclusivity in contracts with six customers that violate competition rules.

The probe is not over but, in an effort to more effectively police markets, Vestager is demanding the San Jose, California company changes its ways based on preliminary findings. That is meant to get around the fact that investigations can last for years, meaning any fix comes too late.

Broadcom was not immediately reachable for comment.