Microsoft is to start unbundling its Teams meeting software from its Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites in the EU in October after pressure from European regulators.
Last month the European Commission started a formal enquiry into Teams and how it was marketed.
“Today we are announcing proactive changes that we hope will start to address these concerns in a meaningful way, even while the European Commission’s investigation continues and we cooperate with it,” says Nanna-Louise Linde, VP of Microsoft European government affairs.
“These changes will impact our Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites for business customers in the European Economic Area and Switzerland.”
As a result, businesses in EU markets will be able to purchase Microsoft 365 subscriptions at a lower monthly price without Teams or buy a standalone version of Teams at a list price of €5 per month or €60 per year.
“We will instead simply sell these offerings without Teams at a lower price (€2 less per month or €24 per year),” explained Linde.
Existing subscribers will be unaffected as the unbundling only affects new customers.
Rival Slack filed an anti-competitive complaint with the EU against Microsoft in July 2020 after the pandemic sparked huge growth for Teams.
Slack alleged that Microsoft had “illegally tied” its Teams to Office “force installing it for millions, blocking its removal, and hiding the true cost to enterprise customers.”