Recent changes to Microsoft Online Services

Since 2020, the EU Commission has been reviewing the integration of Microsoft Teams into Office 365 and Microsoft 365 packages. The aim of the review was to ensure freedom of choice and fair competition for customers and third-party providers.

The agreement between Microsoft and the EU provides for several measures. These include, among other things, that Office 365 and Microsoft 365 packages will also be offered without Teams in future. In addition, the price difference between the two versions will be increased. Existing customers will also be given the opportunity to switch to packages without Teams more easily. Other points concern interoperability and data portability, so that Teams can be connected to other solutions and customer data can be exported.

As a customer, you will have more freedom of choice from 1 November 2025: you can purchase Office 365 and Microsoft 365 packages either with or without Teams. You will also benefit from improved interoperability and data portability options, allowing Teams to connect with other tools and your data to be exportable.

Yes, these changes will also result in price adjustments. Office 365 and Microsoft 365 packages without Teams will become cheaper, while the prices for standalone Teams licences will increase. Current prices can be found in the Microsoft price list for the Telekom Cloud Marketplace. Potential upcoming changes can be found one month in advance in the preview price list.

Monthly or annual contracts that include Teams can be changed to the equivalent version without Teams on the contract renewal date. It is possible to switch to higher-value editions without Teams both during the contract period and upon renewal.

Please contact your Telekom sales representative or our Telekom support team. They will be happy to assist you with the changeover. You can reach the support team by telephone on 0800 33 04444 (Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

The following changes are planned for 1 April 2025:

• Uniform pricing for user-based SKUs: All new and renewing annual subscriptions will be standardised, with the monthly billing option being 5% more expensive than the annual prepayment option. 

Price adjustments are also planned for Microsoft Teams Phone and Power BI:

• The price for Teams Phone is set at £120 per year.
• For Power BI Pro, the price increases to €144 per year, while the price for Power BI Premium Per User increases to €256 per year.
• These prices apply to annual subscriptions with annual billing. For monthly billing for annual subscriptions, a 5 per cent surcharge applies.

Microsoft is increasing prices from 1 April 2025 in order to create a uniform and standardised pricing structure. The aim is to offer customers more flexibility in billing while offsetting the additional costs and administrative overhead associated with monthly billing. The price adjustment for Teams Phone and Power BI is being made due to a significant enhancement of these products through new capabilities and features. 

Telekom publishes the prices for Microsoft Online Services 30 days in advance on the Microsoft Portfolio page on the Telekom business customer portal. Two price lists are available there, one with the currently valid prices and a second one with the prices will apply at the beginning of next monthHere, you can easily check whether prices have increased or decreased before renewing a contract. This also applies to possible future adjustments after 1 April 2025. 

The price changes apply to all Microsoft online services with monthly billing plans per user in an annual subscription. These include, for example, Microsoft 365, Exchange, Teams Operator Connect, but also discontinued products such as Microsoft 365 Enterprise with Teams.

This affects all new and existing customers who purchase or renew their subscription from 1 April 2025 onwards. Existing subscriptions will remain unchanged until the time of renewal.

If you take out or renew a new subscription to a Microsoft online service by 31 March 2025, the prices and terms valid until 1 April 2025 will apply for the next 12 months. For renewals or new purchases after 1 April 2025, prices for monthly billing will be 5 per cent higher than for annual billing.

Example: If you renew your Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription for one year on 10 March 2025, the prices and terms will apply until 9 March 2026.

Microsoft Online Services products can be purchased with different contract terms (e.g. 1 month, 1 year) and different payment frequencies (e.g. monthly, annually). For example, Microsoft 365 Business Edition can be purchased with an annual contract with monthly or annual billing (payment frequency). The price increase ONLY affects annual contracts with monthly payment terms. Annual contracts with annual payment terms are not affected by the price increase. 

You can check when your Microsoft Online Services contracts are due for renewal at any time: simply log in with your details in the Telekom Cloud Marketplace . There you will see when your contracts are renewed. For all products with a booking date up to the end of March 2025, the price adjustment will only take place after the existing contract period has expired. The booking date displayed after logging in to the Telekom Cloud Marketplace is decisive for this.

Until now, Microsoft 365 Copilot has only been available on an annual billing basis. In response to customer feedback, Microsoft will be offering monthly subscriptions for Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales and Microsoft 365 Copilot for Service with a monthly payment option. This option is 5% more expensive than the annual prepayment, but offers you more flexibility. The annual billing price for Microsoft 365 Copilot remains unchanged.  

Yes, a change is possible. You can switch from monthly to annual payments when your contract is up for renewal. However, you can already make the change now for the next contract renewal. There are two ways to do this:

• You can make the change yourself in the Telekom Cloud Marketplace. Step-by-step instructions for this will be published shortly.
• Please contact your Telekom sales representative or our Telekom support team. They will be happy to assist you with the changeover. You can reach the support team by telephone on 0800 33 04444 (Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

Please note: Products that are no longer available for sale, such as Microsoft 365 Enterprise with Teams, can only be converted to annual payment terms from 10 March onwards. If you wish to make several changes to your contract renewal (e.g. reducing the number of licences and switching to annual payment terms), these must be entered at the same time. The best way to do this is to contact your sales representative or the Telekom support team.

You have a special right of termination for the products affected by the price increase at the time the change takes effect. In the event of termination on your part, the contract for the affected product will not end on 1 April 2025, but at the respective end of the contract term. If you do not exercise this special right of termination, the price increase will take effect at the specified time.