Swiss competition authority opens probe into Microsoft licensing fees

Jan 15 (Reuters) – Switzerland’s competition commission said on Thursday ​it launched a preliminary ‌investigation into Microsoft‘s licensing fees in ‌the country.

The antitrust authority said it has received complaints from private businesses as well as ⁠many government ‌agencies and public companies over significant price hikes ‍of Microsoft’s product licenses, which may indicate an unlawful restriction of ​competition.

“Should such indications be ‌confirmed, this could warrant the opening of a formal investigation,” the agency, also known as COMCO, said in a ⁠statement.

“Microsoft is committed ​to complying with ​Swiss competition law and will cooperate with the Swiss ‍Competition ⁠Commission in its preliminary investigation,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

(Reporting ⁠by Linda Pasquini and Oliver Hirt, ‌editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman ‌and Thomas…