Microsoft responds to EU antitrust pressure and announces it will market its video conferencing program Teams separately from its Office software package worldwide. This decision follows a disentanglement already implemented in the EU and Switzerland to preempt an antitrust fine by the European Commission. A spokesperson for the US tech giant confirmed to Reuters that the steps to unbundle Teams from the M365 and O365 subscriptions, which were introduced last year in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, will now be extended to a global level.

The integration of Teams into Office 365 in 2017, as a successor to Skype for Business, and its free availability were especially popular during the pandemic. However, the linking of services sparked criticism from competitors, who saw it as an unfair competitive advantage for Microsoft. In particular, Slack Technologies filed a complaint with the EU Commission, accusing Microsoft of unlawfully bundling Teams with its dominant Office products.

The investigation by the EU Commission emphasizes the importance of open competition in markets for remote communication and collaboration tools. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager emphasized the need to allow companies a free choice in selecting the products that best suit their needs.

In response to Microsoft's announcement, the company's stock experienced a slight pre-market decline of 0.33 percent to $423.16 on NASDAQ.