Microsoft has been making changes to its suite of programs at a near nonstop pace as of late. Whether its further integration of AI or combining apps to make things less confusing for users, the company has been giving particular attention to Teams. Now, a ruling from the EU is having global implications for the videoconferencing platform.
The EU has famously adopted an aggressive antitrust stance, passing laws and fining companies that it deems to be skirting the lines of fair competition. The European Commission began taking note of Microsoft’s bundling of teams following a complaint from videoconferencing rival Slack. When notified of the investigation, Microsoft split its Teams application from the rest of its Office suite in Europe last year in order to avoid hefty fines, and it looks like this decision is now going global.
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As first reported by Reuters, Microsoft will be selling Teams separate from Office around the globe. “To ensure clarity for our customers, we are extending the steps we took last year to unbundle Teams from M365 and O365 in the European Economic Area and Switzerland to customers globally,” Microsoft confirmed to Ars Technica. “Doing so also addresses feedback from the European Commission by providing multinational companies more flexibility when they want to standardize their purchasing across geographies.”
Microsoft has published a statement here, which clarifies the changes to Teams across different subscription plans.
