EU antitrust isn't "satisfied" with Redmond's plan to split Microsoft Teams from its Office 365 packages
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Microsoft Corp. is facing a formal antitrust complaint from the European Union (EU antitrust) over the bundling of the Microsoft Teams video-conferencing app with its Office 365 packages.
The European Commission, the bloc’s antitrust regulator, said that Microsoft’s proposal to split Teams from the broader business software package and sell it to customers separately with an annual discount was “not enough” to satisfy its concerns. Bloomberg first reported.
The commission is now preparing a statement of objections to send to Microsoft, which could come in the next few months. If the company is found to have violated EU antitrust law, it could be fined up to 10% of its global annual turnover.
Microsoft has said that it is committed to complying with EU antitrust law and that it believes its bundling of Teams is legal. However, the company has also said that it is prepared to defend itself against the complaint.
The EU’s investigation into Microsoft’s bundling of Teams follows a complaint from Salesforce Inc.’s messaging platform Slack. Slack alleged that Microsoft’s bundling of Teams was anti-competitive and prevented other companies from competing in the market for video-conferencing software.
The proposed change will be effective starting October 1 in the EU and Switzerland.
