On January 24, 2018, the EU's Commission on Competition announced a €997 million antitrust fine against Qualcomm for abusing its dominant market position in regard to LTE baseband chipsets—technology that enables smartphones and tablets to connect to cellular networks. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager stated that Qualcomm illegally shut out competitors from the market by paying billions of U.S. dollars to Apple “on the condition that Apple would exclusively use Qualcomm's baseband chipsets in all its iPhones and iPads.” The European Commission stated that Qualcomm abused its dominant position in the global market by preventing Apple from purchasing chipsets elsewhere, denying its rivals the possibility to compete, and that “the Commission found that both consumers and competition have suffered as a result of Qualcomm's conduct.” The Commission found that Qualcomm’s actions violated Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 54 of the European Economic Area Agreement, which prohibit abuse of a dominant position. The fine represents 4.9 percent of Qualcomm’s 2017 turnover and “takes account of the duration and gravity of the infringement, and is aimed at deterring market players from engaging in such anti-competitive practices in the future.”