Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) announced on Monday that revised license agreements and other changes that would make it easier for cloud service providers to compete will go into effect on October 1. The decision was motivated by complaints made against the American software major to EU antitrust regulators.
Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft, had made the modifications known in May but had not specified when they would take effect. Following complaints from cloud service providers in Germany, Italy, Denmark, and France, the company—which has been fined 1.6 billion euros ($1.6 billion) by the European Commission over the past ten years for a variety of violations—found itself once again in the sights of the EU.
“On October 1, 2022, Microsoft will implement significant upgrades to our outsourcing and hosting terms that will benefit customers worldwide,” the company said in a blog post.
Customers can now utilize their licenses on any European cloud provider providing services to their own data centers thanks to the new licensing agreements.
Rivals The arrangements will not apply to cloud services provided by Alphabet (GOOGL.O) Google, Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Alibaba (9988. HK), or Microsoft.
