Cisco appeals European approval for Microsoft/Skype merger
US networking giant Cisco has appealed the European Commission's decision to give the go-ahead to Microsoft's US$8.5 billion acquisition of Skype.
In a blog post, Cisco senior VP Marthin De Beer wrote that, while the firm was not opposed to the merger, it “believes the European Commission 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.”
Messagenet, a European VoIP service provider (and Skype rival), has backed Cisco’s appeal.
"This appeal is about one thing only: securing standards-based interoperability in the video calling space," De Beer said. "Our goal is to make video-calling as easy and seamless as email is today.”
“Microsoft’s plans to integrate Skype exclusively with its Lync Enterprise Communications Platform could lock-in businesses who want to reach Skype’s 700 million account holders to a Microsoft-only platform,” he added
According to an AFP report, the European Commission approved Microsoft's takeover of Skype in October, while the deal gained US approval in June.
Microsoft said it did not expect European regulators to reverse the decision. "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," said a spokesman.