Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) will no longer bundle its Teams videoconferencing tool with its Office product in Europe in order to avoid antitrust penalties from regulators.

On Thursday, the internet giant also said that it would take steps to make it easier for competitor solutions to work alongside its software.

The announcement comes a month after the European Union’s executive Commission, the bloc’s top competition regulator, started a formal investigation into allegations that bundling Teams with Office offers Microsoft an undue competitive advantage.

Slack Technologies, the creator of popular office chat software, submitted a complaint in 2020, prompting the investigation.

Slack, which is owned by business software manufacturer Salesforce, claimed that Microsoft was illegally integrating Teams with its Office suite, which includes Word, Excel, and Outlook, in order to eliminate competition, in breach of EU legislation.

“Today, we are announcing proactive changes that we hope will begin to address these concerns in a meaningful way, even as the European Commission’s investigation continues and we cooperate with it,” said Nanna-Louise Linde, Microsoft’s vice president of European government affairs, in a blog post.

It is unclear whether the concessions will be sufficient to answer the Commission’s concerns.

“We take note of Microsoft’s announcement,” a representative for the Commission stated. “We have no further comments to make.”

Linde stated that the modifications were made in response to EU concerns that customers should be able to purchase Office without Teams at a lower cost and that “we should do more to make interoperability easier” with competing communications and collaboration software.

The amendments will take effect on October 1 across the European Economic Area’s 30 member countries and Switzerland. Microsoft, located in Redmond, Washington, will reduce the price of the Office package without Teams by 2 euros ($2.17) per month for its core enterprise customers, who account for the majority of its business in the region. Existing customers can keep their existing plan or upgrade to a version without Teams.

For 5 euros per month, new business users will be able to purchase a standalone edition of Teams.

Linde stated that Microsoft would provide additional support to software developers, including more details on how data may be withdrawn from Teams and used in other apps. In addition, the business will make it easy for competitors to leverage Microsoft’s features rather than developing their own.

Brussels has been putting pressure on Microsoft and other US tech behemoths due to concerns about their market dominance. The commission has looked at Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook, as well as Instagram owner Meta.

Microsoft is also attempting to rescue its $69 billion acquisition of video game firm Activision, which was the subject of an EU antitrust inquiry more than a decade ago. The Commission approved the transaction, however it has been stalled in the United Kingdom.

Featured Image: Pexels @ Salvatore De Lellis

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