Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.US) avoided an EU antitrust investigation by paying a $200m settlement.
1min read Microsoft (MSFT.US) and the European Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers Association (CISPE) reached a €20m (£17.7m) settlement agreement, which will allow members of the association to use Microsoft’s software and services, sparing the tech giant a large fine and further investigation by the EU.
CISPE had previously filed a complaint with the European Commission, alleging anticompetitive behaviour by Microsoft’s cloud business, affecting the entire market. Now, Microsoft has agreed to compensate CISPE members for losses in income over the past two years, and will also launch a new product allowing CISPE members to run Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure on their platforms at fair prices. The product will be delivered in the second half of 2019.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, said: “After more than a year of working with CISPE and its European members, I am pleased that we have not only addressed their past concerns but also worked together to chart a path forward that brings more competition to the European and other cloud markets.”
CISPE said it would no longer initiate or support complaints in Europe or elsewhere about these issues, and would drop its case in the EU. Francisco Mingorance, CISPE’s secretary general, said: “CISPE’s concerns about Microsoft have been constructive and we believe that this agreement will provide a level playing field for European cloud infrastructure service providers and their customers.”
It is worth noting that Amazon (AMZN.US), Google (GOOGL.US) and Alibaba’s cloud platform are not included in the settlement agreement. AWS criticised the deal in a statement to the press. Alia Ilyas, a spokesperson for the company, said that Microsoft had made limited concessions to some CISPE members, which showed that there were no technical barriers preventing it from doing the right thing for every cloud customer. Ms Ilyas added that the deal “does nothing to help the vast majority of Microsoft customers who are still unable to use the cloud services of their choice in Europe and elsewhere.”