Microsoft resolves European Union probe into Teams

Key Points

• The European Union has accepted Microsoft's proposed changes to Teams, concluding a long-term antitrust investigation focused on its messaging and videoconferencing software.
• Microsoft's commitments include unbundling Teams from its Office suite and implementing practices that promote competition, valid for up to 10 years.
• This decision addresses a complaint from Slack Technologies, which accused Microsoft of anti-competitive practices by tying Teams to its widely used Office software.
• As part of the resolution, Microsoft will offer its Office packages without Teams at a discount and improve interoperability with rival software, enhancing customer choice in the market.

LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators have accepted Microsoft's proposed changes to Teams, resolving a long-running antitrust investigation that targeted the company's messaging and videoconferencing app.

The European Commission said in a statement Friday that Microsoft's final commitments to unbundle Teams from its Office software suite, including further tweaks following a market test in May and June, are enough to satisfy competition concerns.

The legally binding commitments will remain in force for up to 10 years and allow the company to avoid a potentially hefty fine.

“We appreciate the dialogue with the Commission that led to this agreement, and we turn now to implementing these new obligations promptly and fully,” Microsoft's vice president of European government affairs, Nanna-Louise Linde, said in a statement.

The Commission, acting on a complaint filed by Slack Technologies, accused Microsoft of “possibly abusive” practices after an investigation, saying that it was tying the Teams app to its widely used Office business software suite, which includes Word, Excel and Outlook.

Slack, now owned by Salesforce, makes popular workplace messaging software. Alfaview, a German maker of videoconferencing software, also filed a separate complaint.

Microsoft responded by proposing to make its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 software packages available at a discount without Teams, and to let customers switch to packages without Teams. The company also promised to make it easier for rival software to work with Teams and for users to move their data to competing products.

Salesforce President Sabastian Niles said the final decision sends a “clear message" that Microsoft’s ”anticompetitive" bundling of Teams has “harmed businesses, denied customers fair choice, and resulted in many years of lost competition.”

Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for competition affairs, said the announcement “opens up competition in this crucial market.”

The announcement comes a week after the Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust authority, fined Google nearly 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) because its ad-tech business breached competition rules, prompting President Donald Trump to threaten retaliation.