Why Cisco Is Challenging Microsoft-Skype Merger

InformationWeek: Cisco has asked the European Commission (EC) to revisit the conditions tied to its approval of Microsoft’s $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype. Cisco warns that Microsoft’s plan to integrate Skype tightly into the Lync unified communications platform will stifle competition. It argues that the EC “should have placed conditions that would ensure greater standards-based interoperability, to avoid any one company from being able to seek to control the future of video communications.”

Microsoft responded in a statement, saying, “The European Commission conducted a thorough investigation of the acquisition, in which Cisco actively participated, and approved the deal in a 36-page decision without any conditions. We’re confident the Commission’s decision will stand up on appeal.”