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Microsoft has released a statement in response to the European Commission’s announcement of antitrust investigation proceedings related to Microsoft Teams and Office product bundling.
The European Commission announced its decision last Thursday to launch antitrust proceedings involving Microsoft and its bundling of its Office and Teams products.
European Commission investigation announcement
“The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether Microsoft may have breached EU competition rules by tying or bundling its communication and collaboration product Teams to its popular suites for businesses Office 365 and Microsoft 365,” the Commission said in an official press release announcing the decision. “Microsoft includes Teams in its well-entrenched cloud-based productivity suites for business customers Office 365 and Microsoft 365. The Commission is concerned that Microsoft may be abusing and defending its market position in productivity software by restricting competition in the European Economic Area (‘EEA’) for communication and collaboration products.
“In particular, the Commission is concerned that Microsoft may grant Teams a distribution advantage by not giving customers the choice on whether or not to include access to that product when they subscribe to their productivity suites and may have limited the interoperability between its productivity suites and competing offerings. These practices may constitute anti-competitive tying or bundling and prevent suppliers of other communication and collaboration tools from competing, to the detriment of customers in the European Economic Area (‘EEA’).
“If proven, the behavior under investigation may breach EU competition rules, which prohibit the abuse of a dominant position (Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’)). The Commission will carry out its in-depth investigation as a matter of priority. The opening of a formal investigation does not prejudge its outcome.”
There is no legal date deadline for the conclusion of proceedings, according to the European Commission’s official release, which added that further information can be found at the Commission’s competition website in the public case register under the case number AT.40721.
“Remote communication and collaboration tools like Teams have become indispensable for many businesses in Europe,” Margrethe Vestager, EVP in charge of competition policy at the European Commission, said in the release. “We must therefore ensure that the markets for these products remain competitive, and companies are free to choose the products that best meet their needs. This is why we are investigating whether Microsoft’s tying of its productivity suites with Teams may be in breach of EU competition rules.”
Reactions
This publication reached out to Microsoft for a statement on the proceedings.
“We respect the European Commission’s work on this case and take our own responsibilities very seriously,” a Microsoft spokesperson replied via email. “We will continue to cooperate with the Commission and remain committed to finding solutions that will address its concerns.”
The investigation has been welcomed by some competitors, with AI-powered software firm alfaview and its legal representation commenting favorably on the decision in a press release.
“The technical coupling of Teams with Microsoft Office limits the competition between video conferencing and collaboration tools,” Thomas Höppner, partner at Hausfeld law firm (which represents alfaview before the European Commission), said in the release. “Users of Office no longer decide for or against a particular video conferencing service on the basis of quality and relevance, but automatically use the Teams service, which is supposedly supplied free of charge. As a result, innovative and high-performance alternatives such as alfaview are no longer perceived on the market.”
“The starting point of the proceedings was a complaint from the Slack service, which belongs to Salesforce,” Niko Fostiropoulos, managing director and founder at alfaview, added in the release. “With our complaint, we want to make it clear that this is not about the battle between two US tech giants, but about the protection of innovations of all kinds. With alfaview, there is a powerful communication, collaboration and AI technology from Germany that behaves in a competition-compliant manner and observes and lives the requirements of data protection. We hope that the European Commission’s procedure will contribute to the development of the European Union.to open up the market for domestic innovations and thus make it competitive again.”
Concerns voiced by alfaview also include data privacy and protection, including issues around the United States and U.S.-based corporations’ handling of European citizen’s data on counterterrorism grounds, which are alleged to contradict European privacy law and practice.
Daniel Brown is the editor of Digital Signage Today, a contributing editor for Automation & Self-Service, and an accomplished writer and multimedia content producer with extensive experience covering technology and business. His work has appeared in a range of business and technology publications, including interviews with eminent business leaders, inventors and technologists. He has written extensively on AI and the integration of technology and business strategy with empathy and the human touch. Brown is the author of two novels and a podcaster. His previous experience includes IT work at an Ivy League research institution, education and business consulting, and retail sales and management.
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