Microsoft is separating Teams from Office in Europe after EU pressure

London
CNN
—

Microsoft said on Thursday it would allow corporate customers in Europe to purchase the Teams video and chat app separately from its Office software, a month after the European Union opened an antitrust investigation into the company’s bundling of products.

This change will take effect from October 1st, affecting commercial customers in the European Union and four other European countries that use it. Microsoft 365 And Office 365 wings.

Microsoft (MSFT) will also make it easier for other companies – for example Zoom and Slack, which are owned by Salesforce – to integrate their products with Microsoft 365, the new name for Office 365.

“We believe these changes balance the interests of our competitors with those of European commercial customers, providing them with access to the best possible solutions at competitive prices,” said Nana-Louise Lind, Corporate Vice President for European Government Affairs. Blog post.

It added that Microsoft would continue to participate in the investigation and “remain open to exploring practical solutions that benefit customers and developers in Europe.”

The company will charge fees to large corporate clients €2 ($2.2) less per month for Microsoft 365 and Office 365 — which includes Word, Excel, and Outlook, among other apps — without the popular Teams app.

New “enterprise customers” will be able to purchase Teams, popular for its video conferencing feature, separately for €5 ($5.4) per month.

“Existing enterprise customers who already have a suite with Teams can choose to stay with their existing productivity suite or move to a suite without Teams,” Linde said.

The blog post did not mention any changes for in-person customers.

The European Union has launched its investigation into possible anti-competitive practices by Microsoft Complaint 2020 By Slack which alleged that Microsoft illegally tied Teams to the dominant company Workplace programs.