The European Commission is expected to expand its investigation into Intel's alleged antitrust practices, according to a report in today's Wall Street Journal.

Commissioners at the EU have already alleged that Intel prevented its smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) from selling more X86 microprocessors by using a mixture of marketing soft dollars, and rebates.

But now, said the Journal, Intel will be accused of providing money to big European shopping chains to sell machines using its microprocessors rather than AMD's.

An Intel rep re-iterated the firm's position that it will cooperate with the European Commission and denies that its sales activities are anti-competitive. X

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