Following complaints from EU antitrust authorities, Microsoft has announced new, revised distribution agreements and service changes that will go into effect on 1 October.
The revised deal enables customers to use their licenses with any European cloud provider that provides services for their own data centers.
“On October 1, 2022, Microsoft will implement significant upgrades to our outsourcing and hosting terms that will benefit customers worldwide,” Microsoft’s official statement said.
However, competitors such as Amazon, Alphabet’s, Google, Alibaba and Microsoft’s own cloud services will be excluded from the deals, and customers will be able to buy virtual environment permits without buying physical equipment.
Microsoft has been fined 1.6 billion euros (US$1.6 billion) by the European Commission over the last decade for various infringements. Lately, it has been in a clinch with the EU following complaints from cloud service providers in some European countries.
EU competition regulators are yet to make an official statement on Microsoft’s planned move.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.