Microsoft will sell Teams and Office separately worldwide | Economy

Microsoft is trying to allay concerns among regulators by leveling the range worldwide. The European Commission has been investigating for some time, because Teams may have had an unfair advantage. The video app was included in the Office package together with services such as Word and Excel.

The American group said on Monday that it was responding to “feedback from the European Commission by offering multinational companies more flexibility when they want to standardize their purchases across different regions.”

Microsoft added Teams to Office 365 for free in 2017. Video meetings became very popular during the corona pandemic. Companies offering similar services subsequently complained that Teams had an unfair advantage by bundling it with other Microsoft services.

The steps may not be drastic enough to prevent a new fine from Brussels. The group has already paid more than 2 billion euros in fines to the EU over the past ten years for linking or bundling products.