Europe has ordered chipmaker Broadcom to stop applying exclusivity clauses in agreements with six of its major customers — imposing so called ‘interim measures’ based on preliminary findings from an ongoing antitrust investigation. The move follows a formal statement of objections issued by the Competition Commission in June. At the time the regulator said it would seek to order Broadcom to halt its behaviour while the investigation proceeds — “to avoid any risk of serious and irreparable harm to competition”. Today Broadcom has been ordered to unilaterally stop applying “anticompetitive provisions” in agreements with six customers, and to inform them it will no longer apply such measures. It is also barred from agreeing provisions with the same or similar effect, and from taking any retaliatory practices intended to punish customers with an equivalent effect. Commenting in a statement, antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, said: “We have strong indications that Broadcom, the world’s leading supplier of chipsets used for TV set-top boxes and modems, is engaging in anticompetitive practices.