The European Union's protracted antitrust investigation into Microsoft's bundling of its Teams application with the Office suite appears to be approaching a resolution. The European Commission has initiated a public consultation on Microsoft's latest commitments aimed at addressing competition concerns. These commitments include offering Office 365 and Microsoft 365 without Teams at discounted rates, allowing customers to switch between packages without Teams, and enhancing interoperability for rival software and data portability from Teams. (apnews.com)
This investigation began in 2020 following a complaint from Slack Technologies, now owned by Salesforce, alleging that Microsoft unfairly bundled Teams with its Office suite to stifle competition. Despite previous attempts by Microsoft to unbundle Teams, the European Commission found these measures insufficient. The new commitments, if accepted, would be legally binding for up to 10 years. Non-compliance could result in fines up to 10% of Microsoft's global revenue. Microsoft's Vice President of European Government Affairs expressed optimism for a resolution within months, while Salesforce emphasized the need for thorough scrutiny to ensure the remedies effectively address anti-competitive practices. (apnews.com)
In response to the European Commission's concerns, Microsoft has proposed selling its Office product without Teams at a lower price than the version with Teams included. This proposal also includes enhanced interoperability access for rivals and allows competitors to embed Office Web Applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into their own products. European customers would gain the ability to extract Teams messaging data for use with competing solutions. The proposed pricing would be valid for seven years, and interoperability terms for ten years. The European Commission is now seeking feedback from competitors and customers before making a final decision. If accepted, this would resolve the ongoing antitrust case, avoiding a potential fine for Microsoft. (reuters.com)
This case underscores the European Union's commitment to ensuring fair competition in the digital market, particularly concerning the bundling of products by dominant players. The outcome of this investigation could set a precedent for how similar cases are handled in the future, emphasizing the importance of interoperability and consumer choice in the tech industry.
Source: The Register Citizen https://www.registercitizen.com/business/article/long-running-eu-antitrust-case-of-microsoft-teams-20330646.php