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Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE) has filed a formal antitrust complaint with the European Commission against Broadcom, alleging that post-acquisition changes to VMware licensing and partner terms are unfairly squeezing European cloud providers. The complaint targets Broadcom’s planned termination of the VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program in Europe, along with steep price increases, tied sales, upfront payment demands, and minimum commitments based on projected rather than actual usage.
CISPE said the measures could exclude most European cloud providers from the VMware ecosystem, harm customers, and create monopolistic conditions in some markets, with some reported cost increases exceeding 1,000%. The group is seeking urgent interim measures, including suspension of the VCSP termination, readmission of affected providers, restoration of the white-label program, and protection against retaliation; its complaint is backed by industry organizations including Voice e.V., Beltug, and the Dutch Cloud Community, while Broadcom has rejected the allegations.
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CISPE launched the website dontbebullied.cispe.cloud to support its campaign against Broadcom's treatment of European cloud providers. The platform was introduced in connection with the filing of the EU complaint.
Broadcom denied the antitrust allegations made by CISPE regarding VMware licensing and partner program changes. The rejection was reported alongside coverage of the EU complaint.
On 2026-03-20, CISPE filed a formal complaint with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition accusing Broadcom of predatory and unfair treatment of VMware cloud partners. The complaint seeks urgent interim measures, including suspension of the VCSP termination, restoration of partner access, and protection against retaliation.
European organizations including Beltug, Germany's Voice e.V., and the Dutch Cloud Community publicly supported concerns about Broadcom's VMware partner program changes. They described harm to SMEs and a climate of fear among companies reluctant to speak out.
After acquiring VMware, Broadcom introduced new commercial and licensing terms for cloud partners, including bundling, upfront payment demands, and minimum commitments based on projected rather than actual usage. CISPE and other industry groups say these changes led to major price increases, in some cases exceeding 1,000%.
In January 2026, Broadcom unilaterally terminated the VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program for European partners, according to CISPE. The group says the move excluded most European cloud providers from the VMware ecosystem while favoring a small number of selected players.
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European governments and organizations are intensifying efforts to achieve digital sovereignty in cloud infrastructure, driven by geopolitical uncertainties and concerns over reliance on American hyperscalers such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services. With U.S. policy shifts and potential transatlantic tensions, European leaders are prioritizing the development of domestic alternatives and strategies to ensure control over sensitive data and critical workloads. Despite these ambitions, local cloud providers currently hold only a small share of the market, and experts suggest that a new European hyperscaler is unlikely to emerge soon, with existing players like SAP and Deutsche Telekom each controlling only about 2% of the market. In response to these sovereignty concerns, cloud providers are expanding offerings tailored to regulatory and data residency requirements. Amazon Web Services, for example, has introduced Dedicated Local Zones to provide customers with greater control over data location, security, and compliance, supporting sensitive workloads for public sector and regulated industries. These initiatives reflect a broader trend of cloud service adaptation to meet the evolving needs of European customers seeking to balance operational flexibility with strict sovereignty and compliance mandates.
Jun 29, 2026
The European Commission told Amazon and Microsoft that it preliminarily views **Amazon Web Services** and **Microsoft Azure** as gatekeepers under the EU **Digital Markets Act** for their cloud computing services. After a seven-month investigation, the Commission said both providers serve as critical gateways between businesses and customers and hold entrenched, durable positions in the EU market, citing large user bases, lock-in effects, high switching costs, broad ecosystems, and the growing importance of their AI tools and partnerships in cloud procurement. The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets is supporting the investigations through a joint investigative team, while a separate EU probe is examining whether existing DMA rules are sufficient to address unfair or anti-competitive practices in cloud services. Amazon Web Services rejected the preliminary assessment, arguing that European customers already have substantial cloud choice and warning that a gatekeeper designation could deter investment and innovation in Europe. Amazon and Microsoft can now exercise their rights of defence, and if the Commission confirms its findings, both companies would be formally designated as gatekeepers and given six months to comply with DMA obligations for their cloud businesses, marking a broader EU push on competition, data sovereignty, and reliance on major US technology providers.
Jul 12, 2026
Broadcom has released a series of security updates addressing multiple high-severity vulnerabilities across several VMware products, including VMware Tools, Aria Operations, vCenter, and NSX. The patched vulnerabilities include privilege escalation and information disclosure flaws that could allow attackers to gain elevated access or extract sensitive data from affected systems. In VMware Tools and Aria Operations, three vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-41244, CVE-2025-41245, CVE-2025-41246) were disclosed, which can be exploited to escalate privileges to root, steal credentials, and access other guest virtual machines. A zero-day proof-of-concept for a privilege escalation flaw in VMware Tools was published, with reports indicating that Chinese APT groups have leveraged this vulnerability in attacks. Broadcom also addressed two high-severity vulnerabilities in VMware NSX, reported by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), which allow unauthenticated attackers to enumerate valid usernames, potentially facilitating brute-force or unauthorized access attempts. Additionally, a high-severity SMTP header injection vulnerability (CVE-2025-41250) in VMware vCenter was patched, which could be exploited by attackers with non-administrative privileges to manipulate notification emails for scheduled tasks. The vulnerabilities in NSX and vCenter highlight the risk of unauthorized access and lateral movement within virtualized environments. Broadcom acknowledged the NSA's role in reporting the NSX flaws and emphasized the importance of timely patching. The company has a recent history of addressing critical VMware vulnerabilities, including those exploited as zero-days during the Pwn2Own Berlin 2025 hacking contest and others reported by the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center. State-sponsored threat actors and cybercriminal groups, including ransomware operators, are known to actively target VMware vulnerabilities, increasing the urgency for organizations to apply these patches. The coordinated disclosure and rapid patching efforts underscore the ongoing threat landscape facing virtualization infrastructure. Organizations using VMware products are strongly advised to review Broadcom's security advisories and implement the recommended updates to mitigate the risk of exploitation. The vulnerabilities affect both on-premises and cloud-based VMware deployments, making comprehensive patch management essential. Security teams should also monitor for signs of exploitation, especially in environments where patching may be delayed. The publication of proof-of-concept exploits and reports of active targeting by advanced persistent threat groups further elevate the risk profile of these vulnerabilities. Broadcom's advisories provide detailed mitigation steps and highlight the collaborative efforts between vendors and security agencies to protect critical infrastructure. The breadth of affected products demonstrates the need for holistic security strategies in virtualized and cloud environments. Failure to address these vulnerabilities could result in significant compromise of sensitive systems and data.
Jun 29, 2026