Microsoft rivals asked if Teams offered to address concerns in the EU document. According to a questionnaire that Reuters saw, European Union antitrust authorities have asked Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) rivals whether or not the American software giant’s proposal to separate its chat and video application Teams from its Office product is sufficient to address their concerns satisfactorily.
The European Commission started an inquiry into Microsoft’s bundling of Office and Teams due to a complaint filed by Slack. This competing workplace messaging software was bought by Salesforce (CRM.N.) in 2020. Microsoft announced its offer in August, one month after the European Commission opened the probe.
According to some familiar with the situation, the most recent questionnaire may provide evidence that the European Union’s competition monitor is putting together a statement of complaints that may be delivered to Microsoft at the beginning of the following year.
According to the regulations, competitors were requested to offer input from prospective consumers regarding how their services may function with Microsoft’s services, the price of goods with and without Teams, and the eligibility requirements.
In August, Microsoft announced that the monthly cost of Office without Teams would be two euros lower than that of Office with Teams. For a monthly fee of five euros, new clients may purchase teams standalone.
When Microsoft was asked for a reaction, the corporation referred to a statement it had released in August, stating that the business was dedicated to finding solutions to meet the concerns raised by the Commission.
The EU enforcer was also interested in learning whether or not it was simple for consumers to migrate to competitors, whether or not network effects may potentially prevent existing competitors or new competitors from joining the market, and whether or not cloud products could replace on-premise solutions.