Microsoft is increasing the price difference between the 365 subscription with or without Teams to escape antitrust fines. A formula with Teams would cost five euros more.
Microsoft decided in August 2023 to pull Teams from the 365 subscription. Companies that want to use the business communication platform will have to pay a surcharge for it. This concession by Microsoft was not enough, according to European regulators, to bring the market back to parity, so the antitrust investigation continued.
To escape an antitrust fine, Microsoft is making promised further concessions, Reuters writes . It would like to adjust subscription prices to increase the price difference between formulas with and without Teams. This is especially bad news for those who have purchased subscriptions with Teams, as these formulas appear set to become more expensive.
Five euros
Depending on which formula you choose, a subscription without Teams is about two euros a month cheaper. With the Enterprise formulas, that could be five euros a month. Microsoft would now like to use a difference of five euros per month as a standard. It seems more likely that it will raise prices on formulas with Teams, rather than the reverse move.
The European Commission is giving Microsoft’s competitors until the end of this week to have their say, and then decide whether to proceed with a formal investigation. If the European Commission accepts Microsoft’s offer, it would free up manpower and resources for its investigations into Apple and Google, according to one of Reuters’ sources.
What about Copilot?
Microsoft may be giving the impression that it is compliant with European regulations, but in the meantime it is adding Copilot to 365 subscriptions unsolicited. The bundle has even had to undergo a name change to make Copilot more prominent. According to Microsoft, 365 and Copilot are one entity that can no longer be separated, although one can make many reservations about that argument.
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