Multiven Files Antitrust Complaint Against Cisco Systems with Swiss Competition Commission

ZURICH, Switzerland. – Monday, January 30, 2012, Multiven GmbH (“Multiven”) today filed an antitrust complaint against Cisco Systems (“Cisco”) with the Swiss Competition Commission, in an effort to open up the network maintenance services marketplace for Cisco equipment, promote free and fair competition while enhancing consumer choice and value. Multiven’s complaint alleges that Cisco abuses its dominant position to harm consumers by bundling and tying software bug fixes, patches and updates (“software updates”) for its operating system and application software to its maintenance services (“SMARTnet”) and through a series of other illegal exclusionary and anti-competitive acts designed to maintain Cisco’s monopoly in the network maintenance services market for Cisco networking equipment, which represents 75% of the world’s Internet infrastructure.



The complaint recites that instead of making these necessary software updates available to all customers that have purchased its operating system and application software licenses, as does Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and many others, Cisco makes these software updates only available to those customers that have purchased its SMARTnet service.

The complaint further alleges that Cisco also engages in a series of illegal exclusionary and anti-competitive acts such as (but not limited to);

• Cisco coercing its 52,000 reseller partners to refuse-to-deal with Multiven and not resell better quality and/or lower cost services from Multiven – an Independent Service Organization (“ISO”) – that competes with Cisco SMARTnet,
• Cisco voiding the software licenses of customers that install their valid Cisco software on genuine Cisco equipment procured from Cisco-independent sources.

• Competition in the market for service and maintenance of Cisco networking equipment has been suppressed and virtually eliminated. Additionally, ISOs have been effectively precluded from competing for and earning profits on the servicing of Cisco networking equipment.
• Customers have been deprived choice and forced to purchase Cisco SMARTnet maintenance services over that of substantially better quality and/or lower priced maintenance services from ISOs like Multiven; and
• Consumers have been harmed because supracompetitive prices have been maintained and increased, and the quantity, quality and choice of service offerings in the marketplace has been reduced and constrained.

Contact Information

Multiven PR

Public Relations

Multiven

Contact via E-mail