MOSCOW, May 15 — The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had launched an investigation into US tech giant Microsoft, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.
“The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today launched a strategic market status (SMS) investigation into Microsoft’s business software ecosystem,” the authority said in a statement on Thursday.
Hundreds of thousands of UK businesses and public sector organisations use Microsoft software daily, and the total number of commercial users in the company’s ecosystem exceeds 15 million, the statement read.
“The CMA has 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 products at the most competitive prices,” the statement added.
The CMA announced that the investigation will be completed within nine months, during which the authority will examine how Microsoft provides a range of software products used by UK organisations, including productivity software, operating systems for personal computers and servers, database management systems and security software.
