UK begins antitrust inquiry into Microsoft's business software ecosystem

Brit regulator has 'heard' customers can't always 'effectively combine software from Microsoft with that of other providers'

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is taking a closer look at Microsoft’s business software empire, launching a strategic market status investigation into the company’s ecosystem.

The probe, which is the fourth since the UK's digital markets competition regime came into force last year, will determine whether Microsoft should be designated as having strategic market status, which would allow the CMA to implement interventions to support competition.

In March, the CMA announced that the investigation was coming. The regulator was concerned that Microsoft's software licensing practices were reducing competition in the cloud.

In today's announcement, the CMA said it had "heard that UK customers may not always be able to effectively combine software from Microsoft with that of other providers, limiting their ability to get access to the best...

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