To address EU antitrust concerns, Microsoft will begin unbundling Teams from the Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites in European markets.
Microsoft announced the move on Thursday. The company said the software will be shared in the European Economic Area, which unites EU member states Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, as well as Switzerland.
The changes will take effect on October 1st. From this point on, corporate customers can buy Office 365 and Microsoft 365 without Teams for the cheaper price of €2 per month or €24 per year. To access Teams, they must purchase a standalone subscription for €5 per month or €60 per year.
The move comes a month after the European Commission open a formal investigation into the bundling of teams.
“Remote communication and collaboration tools such as Teams have become indispensable for many companies in Europe,” said Margrethe Vestager, the EU antitrust commissioner, when the investigation was launched.
“We therefore need to ensure that the markets for these products remain competitive and that companies have the freedom to choose the products that best suit their needs.”
The reason for the investigation was a cartel office Complaint filed by Slack. in 2020, The app for workplace collaboration accused the Windows manufacturer of “abusing its market dominance” to suppress competitors.
Microsoft said it hopes the unbundling will address the Commission’s concerns.
“We believe these changes will align the interests of our competitors with those of European business customers, giving them access to the best possible solutions at competitive prices.” Nanna-Louise Linde, Microsoft’s vice president for European government affairs, said in a blog post.