CISPE, the trade group representing European cloud infrastructure providers, has filed a formal antitrust complaint against Broadcom with EU regulators. The group wants the European Commission to force Broadcom to reinstate VMware’s Cloud Service Provider program in Europe, according to Ars Technica.
The core issue: Broadcom killed the VMware partner program in January 2026, cutting off most European cloud service providers from selling VMware products. Only a “tiny minority of hand-selected partners” survived the purge.
What’s Behind the Complaint
CISPE’s filing paints a picture of systematic squeeze tactics since Broadcom completed its VMware acquisition:
- Price hikes up to 900% – some customers saw tenfold increases
- Forced product bundling that removes customer choice
- Commitment requirements based on projected use, not actual consumption
- Termination of the partner program across Europe, locking out most CSPs
“After imposing outrageous and unjustified price hikes immediately following the acquisition of VMware, Broadcom is now applying the ‘coup de grâce,'” CISPE Secretary General Francisco Mingorance said, as reported by Ars Technica. “We need urgent intervention to force them to change.”
Broadcom Pushes Back
Broadcom isn’t taking this quietly. The company fired back by calling CISPE “an organization funded by hyperscalers” that misrepresents market realities. Broadcom claims it remains “committed to investing significantly” in European VMware partners and helping them compete against hyperscalers.
That “funded by hyperscalers” jab is pointed. CISPE counts AWS and Microsoft among its 50 members, though it classifies them as “adherent members” without voting rights. Broadcom is clearly trying to frame this as big tech pulling strings rather than a legitimate grievance from smaller European providers.
Why This Matters
VMware remains deeply embedded in enterprise IT infrastructure across Europe. Thousands of businesses rely on VMware virtualization products, and many access them through local cloud service providers rather than directly or through hyperscalers.
When Broadcom acquired VMware for $69 billion in 2023, the industry braced for exactly this kind of consolidation play. Broadcom has a well-documented playbook: acquire infrastructure software companies, cut costs aggressively, raise prices, and focus on the largest customers. It did the same with CA Technologies and Symantec’s enterprise business.
What’s different this time is the scale of impact and the regulatory environment. Europe has been significantly more aggressive about enforcing competition rules in tech, and CISPE has shown it’s willing to fight. The group already filed an appeal with the European General Court in July to try to annul the EC’s original approval of the VMware acquisition. That case is still active.
What Comes Next
The EU Commission now has to decide whether to investigate. Given Europe’s track record of taking competition complaints seriously, especially when they involve American tech companies squeezing European businesses, Broadcom should expect scrutiny.
For enterprises running VMware infrastructure through European CSPs, this creates real uncertainty. Some are already accelerating migrations to alternatives like Nutanix, Proxmox, or native hyperscaler services. Others are stuck in multi-year VMware deployments with no quick exit.
This complaint adds another front to Broadcom’s growing regulatory headaches in Europe. The original acquisition approval is being challenged in court, and now the post-acquisition behavior is under the microscope. More details are available in the original report on Ars Technica.