Software giant Microsoft is reportedly preparing for new antitrust enforcement actions by European regulators over its Teams virtual meeting software.
The European Commission, the European Union’s antitrust watchdog, is moving forward with plans to file formal antitrust charges against Microsoft, the Financial Times reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter.
The investigation is reportedly centered on concerns that Microsoft has employed anti-competitive tactics to block attempts to compete with Teams by making it run more efficiently when paired with its other in-house software. Additionally, Microsoft is being accused of making it unfairly difficult for Team users to switch to rival services owing to a lack of data portability.
European Commission officials are reportedly set to meet with Microsoft’s business rivals regarding the case this week. Meanwhile, the charges could be filed “within weeks”, according to well-placed sources.
There is still an opportunity for Microsoft to prevent a formal lawsuit in the EU if it can reach a settlement regarding its business practices, according to the FT. EU regulators could also decide to delay the suit or hold off from filing it entirely.
Still, the antitrust crackdown on Teams gained steam even after Microsoft made an initial round of concessions last month.
Microsoft said in April that it would sell its Teams software separately from its Office software products across its global business. The company had already confirmed last year that it would decouple the products in Europe.