What just happened? Broadcom's overhaul of VMware's cloud partner ecosystem has escalated into a formal antitrust battle in Europe. The trade group CISPE, representing cloud service providers across the continent, filed a complaint with the European Commission, accusing Broadcom of abusing its market power by dismantling VMware's longstanding Cloud Service Provider (CSP) program.
CISPE claims Broadcom's actions have excluded most European cloud infrastructure partners, sharply reduced competition, and forced smaller firms out of the VMware ecosystem altogether.
The group's move follows months of changes since Broadcom finalized its acquisition of VMware and began restructuring the company's licensing and partner tiers. The complaint asks regulators to intervene before the CSP program's remaining agreements expire on March 31, calling for the Commission to impose an interim order reopening the program and reinstating displaced partners. CISPE also urged explicit protections against potential retaliation from Broadcom.
CISPE's secretary general, Francisco Mingorance, described Broadcom's behavior as "outrageous and unjustified," citing steep price hikes and restrictive contract terms that he argued amount to "a coup de grâce" for many smaller service providers.
The dispute centers on Broadcom's decision to shutter VMware's open CSP partner framework and replace it with an invitation-only program tailored for large enterprise-facing resellers. While VMware had worked with more than 4,000 CSP partners before the acquisition, that number has fallen to just 19 in the United States and 9 in the United Kingdom.
Eligibility requirements have also shifted. Under Broadcom's new rules, CSPs must operate at least 3,500 cores to qualify for partnership – a threshold that effectively disqualifies a large share of regional providers. In January, the company confirmed the termination of the existing European CSP program, a decision that triggered CISPE's formal complaint.
CISPE, which represents about 50 members, including smaller regional firms and major players such as AWS and Microsoft in non-voting roles, argues that Broadcom's new model harms fair competition. The trade group's filing accuses the company of "ongoing abuse," including product bundling and mandatory commitments based on projected, not actual, usage.
Broadcom disputes the allegations. In a statement responding to the complaint, the company said it "strongly disagrees" with the allegations by CISPE, described it as "an organization funded by hyperscalers, which misrepresents the realities of the market," and framed its VMware partners as offering alternatives to hyperscalers.
Broadcom emphasized that it remains committed to "investing significantly" in its European partner network, asserting that its new program better equips local providers to compete with large cloud platforms and serve enterprise customers.
The complaint adds a fresh layer to Broadcom's ongoing legal challenges in Europe. Last July, CISPE separately appealed to the EU General Court to overturn the Commission's original approval of the VMware acquisition – a case that remains pending.