CISPE files a formal complaint against Broadcom with the European Commission

CISPEthe association that brings together cloud infrastructure service providers in Europe, has filed a formal complaint for anti-competitive behavior against Broadcom with the European Commission. The organization accuses the company of abuse of a dominant position in relation to the VMware virtualization software, and calls on the EU Competition Directorate General to take immediate measures to mitigate the effects of its actions.

In the text of the complaint filed by CISPE, its members criticize the increase in costs that cloud service providers have had to bear due to the decisions made by Broadcom in relation to VMware, which in many cases has exceeded 1000%.

This is due to both Price increases on their products and services, forced product bundling, upfront payment obligations, and minimum purchase quantities based more on potential rather than actual use. Already in May of last year, a report from European cloud communities already documented price increases of between 800% and 1,500%.

Apart from this, according to CISPE, the final of the VMware Cloud Service Provider Program (VCSP) in Europe, announced last January of this year, is particularly serious, since it only allows a few partners, chosen by hand, to continue in it, and the vast majority of cloud service providers in Europe are left out. CISPE assures that as a consequence there will be many suppliers who will have to leave the market.

Broadcom has already closed its white label program for SMEs in 2025, and the company has not offered any explanation as to why it is closing this program specifically in Europe, while it continues to exist in other regions.

In addition to the suspension of the closure of this program for cloud service providers and the reintegration of European cloud service providers into it, CISPE also requests the restart of the aforementioned white label program. Likewise, it requests protection against measures that Broadcom may take as revenge, and the application of a system of fines to guarantee compliance with its requests.

The association also warns that Broadcom’s measures endanger the European Sovereignty Cloud Strategy, by destroying the autonomy of European providers and increasing their dependence on American hyperscalers. In the long term, CISPE points out, there is a danger of monopoly, reduced competition and higher costs.

According to the Secretary General of CISPE, Francisco Mingorance«With the end of Broadcom’s program that allows access to VMware virtualization software, businesses, both cloud providers and their customers, are suffering irreparable harm from Broadcom’s unfair actions, which we believe are illegal. After imposing outrageous and unfair price increases right after the VMware purchase, Broadcom is delivering the coup de grace. We need urgent intervention to force them to change. The only way to stop bullies is to stand up to them«.