Microsoft strikes multi-million dollar deal to settle CISPE antitrust complaint

Microsoft has announced a multi-million dollar agreement with CISPE (Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe) to resolve an antitrust complaint related to its cloud services licensing practices. The settlement effectively averts a potential European Union antitrust investigation that could have resulted in significant fines for the American tech giant.

The complaint, originally filed by CISPE with the European Commission in late 2022, alleged that Microsoft’s new contractual terms, introduced on October 1 this year, were harmful to the European cloud computing ecosystem. CISPE, whose members include Amazon and several smaller EU cloud providers, expressed concerns that the terms stifle competition and innovation in the sector.

Microsoft, which currently trails market leader Amazon but is ahead of Alphabet’s Google in cloud computing, has been in talks with CISPE and its European affiliates for more than a year to address these concerns. “After more than a year of working with CISPE and its European members, I am pleased that we have not only addressed their concerns from the past, but also worked together to define a path forward that will bring even greater competition to the cloud computing market in Europe and beyond,” said Microsoft CEO Brad Smith.

Related: EU investigates Microsoft, Google and Samsung AI deals

As part of the agreement, Microsoft will introduce a new product that will enable CISPE members to run Microsoft software on their own platforms using Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure at prices equivalent to those offered by Microsoft itself, a move that aims to level the playing field and increase competition in the European cloud market.

In addition, Microsoft agreed to compensate CISPE members for revenue losses incurred due to licensing costs over the past two years. However, this settlement does not cover major players such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and AliCloud.

CISPE confirmed that it would withdraw its complaint with the European Commission and would not initiate or support further complaints on these issues in Europe or elsewhere.

Source: Reuters