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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) reached a €20M (~$21.7M) settlement with cloud association CISPE in Europe, sparing the tech giant from a hefty fine and further EU investigation, Reuters reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE) accused Microsoft (MSFT) of using unfair licensing terms that stifled competition in Europe’s cloud ecosystem.
Microsoft (MSFT) has agreed to compensate CISPE members for lost revenues over the past two years, the report said.
Microsoft (MSFT) will also roll out a new product allowing CISPE members to run the U.S. tech giant’s Azure cloud infrastructure on their platforms at fair prices, which it has nine months to deliver.
“After working with CISPE and its European members for more than a year, I am pleased that we’ve not only resolved their concerns of the past but also worked together to define a path forward that brings even more competition to the cloud computing market in Europe and beyond,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said.
However, the lobby group’s largest members – Amazon (AMZN) Web Services, Google (GOOG) Cloud Platform, and AliCloud (BABA) are not included in the settlement.
CISPE said it would no longer initiate or support complaints on these matters in Europe or elsewhere and that it would now drop its EU complaint.
“CISPE has given Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and believes that this agreement will provide a level playing field for European cloud infrastructure service providers and their customers,” said CISPE’s Francisco Mingorance.