Thursday, February 16, 2012

Cisco Appeals EU Approval of Microsoft's $8.5 Billion Skype Acquistion - Arik Hesseldahl - News - AllThingsD

Imagine how difficult it would be to keep enterprises locked into proprietary Cisco hardware and software if another vendor offered a compelling and cost-effective alternative

“Imagine how difficult it would be if you were limited to calling people who only use the same carrier or if your phone could only call certain brands and not others,” De Beer wrote. “Cisco wants to avoid this future for video communications,” and so has filed the appeal. Messagenet, a European IP calling service, joined Cisco in filing the appeal. Both had commented to the European Commmission during initial hearings on the deal before it was approved.

Cisco doesn’t want the merger rescinded, but rather wants the EC to impose some interoperability conditions on Microsoft. Part of Microsoft’s plan with Skype has been to combine it with its Lync video and voice calling software for businesses. Both Lync and Skype use their own proprietary calling technologies, and so aren’t compatible with other video and calling services.

Cisco Appeals EU Approval of Microsoft's $8.5 Billion Skype Acquistion - Arik Hesseldahl - News - AllThingsD

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