Microsoft’s Cloud Business Targeted by EU Antitrust Regulators | Investing News
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators are quizzing Microsoft’s rivals and clients about its cloud company and licensing discounts, a questionnaire seen by Reuters confirmed, in a go that could direct to a formal investigation and renewed scrutiny of the U.S. application corporation.
The European Commission has fined Microsoft a total 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in the previous 10 years for breaching EU antitrust policies and for not complying with its order to halt anti-competitive tactics.
The corporation uncovered itself on the EU levels of competition enforcer’s radar all over again after German software service provider NextCloud, France’s OVHcloud and two other providers filed complaints about Microsoft’s cloud procedures.
“The Commission has information and facts that Microsoft may be working with its likely dominant place in sure software package marketplaces to foreclose competitors with regards to particular cloud computing solutions,” the questionnaire said.
Regulators asked if the terms in Microsoft’s licensing promotions with cloud assistance companies allow for rivals to contend properly.
They also want to know if firms needed Microsoft’s working programs and productivity applications to complement their individual cloud infrastructure supplying in get to contend effectively.
Organizations also were questioned about the dissimilarities in license fees and business terms between the licensing discounts with cloud company suppliers and a further programme in which they deal and indirectly resell Microsoft’s cloud products and services collectively with their own.
One more target was likely complex restrictions on cloud storage expert services accessible on companies’ cloud infrastructure.
“We are continuously assessing how we can ideal aid partners and make Microsoft computer software available to prospects across all environments, including those of other cloud companies,” Microsoft said in an emailed statement.
EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager before this 7 days said she has no concerns however about cloud computing and cited the competitiveness from Europe’s Gaia-X initiative.
(Writing by Foo Yun Chee Enhancing by Bill Berkrot)
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