Microsoft bows to EU competition concerns over Teams

Microsoft bows to EU competition concerns over Teams

The trigger for the EU probe was a July 2020 complaint from Slack, a US startup competitor to Teams which has since been bought by the company Salesforce
The trigger for the EU probe was a July 2020 complaint from Slack, a US startup competitor to Teams which has since been bought by the company Salesforce. Photo: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP/File
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Check out our special project with inspiring stories of women who overcome the challenges to succeed in construction: Women of Wonder: Building the Future!

Microsoft will unbundle its Teams communications from its popular Office suite in an attempt to assuage EU antitrust concerns, the company said Thursday.

The European Commission launched the investigation in July to see whether the US tech giant was "abusing and defending its market position" by bundling the software together.

If the commission probe finds against Microsoft, the company could face a hefty fine or other ordered remedies.

In a bid to address the concerns, Microsoft will unbundle Teams from its Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites in the European Economic Area and Switzerland from October 1, the company's vice president on European government affairs, Nanna-Louise Linde, said.

Customers will now be able to buy the software without Teams at a lower price, she added.

Read also

Airlines count cost of UK traffic control failure

"We are announcing proactive changes that we hope will start to address these concerns in a meaningful way, even while the European Commission's investigation continues and we cooperate with it," Linde wrote in a blog post.

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!

Microsoft bundles Teams with its cloud-based Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites, which include its popular Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Excel programmes.

Teams is a platform that allows users to communicate through messages, video calls and file sharing.

The trigger for the commission's probe was a July 2020 complaint from Slack, a US startup competitor to Teams which has since been bought by the company Salesforce.

The commission had also expressed concerns that Microsoft may have limited the interoperability between its productivity suites and rival products.

Microsoft will now make it easier for rivals' software to work with the firm's own.

Read also

US seeking more 'predictable' business environment in China: Raimondo

There is no set deadline for the EU's investigation to be completed.

"We will continue to engage with the commission, listen to concerns in the marketplace, and remain open to exploring pragmatic solutions that benefit both customers and developers in Europe," Linde said.

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.