Microsoft has been accused of violating EU antitrust rules by tying the Teams communications platform to popular productivity apps in the business versions of Office 365 and Microsoft 365. The European Commission made this announcement on Tuesday, expressing concern that Microsoft’s dominant position in the market for software-as-a-service (SaaS) productivity applications for professional use could be used to limit market competition and protect its own position.
The Commission believes that vendors of SaaS business applications are increasingly distributing their software as a service, meaning that the software is hosted on a cloud infrastructure of their choice. If confirmed, Microsoft’s practices of bundling Teams with basic productivity SaaS applications since at least April 2019 would violate Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which prohibits the abuse of a dominant position on the market.
The notification sent by the Commission about established facts does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation. Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president responsible for market competition policy, expressed her concern that Microsoft may be giving its Teams communication platform an unjustified advantage over its competitors by linking it to popular business productivity packages. Market competition for remote communication and collaboration tools is crucial for driving innovation in these markets. Microsoft will now have an opportunity to answer questions from the Commission and potentially resolve this issue before it becomes a full-blown legal case.
