CISPE files antitrust complaint, demands interim measures to stop what it calls chip giant's 'ongoing abuse'

A lobbying trade body for smaller cloud providers is asking the European Commission to impose interim measures blocking Broadcom from terminating the VMware Cloud Service Provider program, calling the decision a death sentence for some tech suppliers and an illegal squeeze on customer choice.

As The Reg revealed in January, Broadcom shuttered the scheme, a move sources claimed affects hundreds of CSPs across Europe and curtails options for enterprises buying VMware software and services.

The Cloud Infrastructure Service Provider in Europe (CISPE) trade group, representing nearly 50 tech suppliers, filed the complaint today with the EC Directorates-General, accusing Broadcom of bully-boy tactics, and calling for authorities to halt what it terms as “ongoing abuse.”

Francisco Mingorance, CISPE secretary general, said of the complaint: “Businesses – both cloud providers and their customers – are being irreparably damaged by Broadcom’s unfair actions, which we believe are illegal.

“After imposing outrageous and unjustified price ...