07:30 AM EDT, 06/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with Microsoft's ( MSFT ) response in the fifth paragraph.)

Microsoft ( MSFT ) was notified by the European Commission that the regulator's preliminary findings suggest the company breached EU antitrust rules by bundling its communication and collaboration tool, Teams, with its Office 365 and Microsoft ( MSFT ) 365 suites, the regulator said Tuesday.

The regulator said Microsoft's ( MSFT ) tying of Teams with its core productivity applications restricts competition and added it is concerned Microsoft ( MSFT ) may have granted Teams a distribution advantage, which "may have been further exacerbated by interoperability limitations between Teams' competitors and Microsoft's ( MSFT ) offerings."

The Commission said the changes Microsoft ( MSFT ) introduced to the way it distributes Teams are not sufficient to address its concerns and further changes are needed to restore competition.

The Commission said it could decide to prohibit the conduct and impose a fine of up to 10% of Microsoft's ( MSFT ) annual worldwide turnover.

"Having unbundled Teams and taken initial interoperability steps, we appreciate the additional clarity provided today and will work to find solutions to address the Commission's remaining concerns," a Microsoft ( MSFT ) spokesperson quoted Vice Chair and President Brad Smith as saying in an email to MT Newswires.

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