The latest appeal broadens an earlier complaint by the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), which has now been joined by Belgium's Beltug, France's Cigref, Germany's VOICE, and the Netherlands' CIO Platform Nederland.
In a joint letter dated July 10 and seen by Reuters, the organisations urged European Union regulators to intervene before the ongoing antitrust investigation is concluded, warning that delays could further damage the European cloud services market.
"We therefore urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to act swiftly and impose interim measures now," the associations stated in the letter.
The dispute stems from Broadcom's overhaul of VMware's cloud service provider ecosystem after completing its acquisition of the virtualization software company in 2023. CISPE had earlier filed a complaint with the European Commission in March, alleging that the changes significantly altered licensing conditions for cloud providers.
The complaint prompted the Commission, the EU's competition watchdog, to begin examining the revised VMware licensing model and its impact on competition.
According to the five trade groups, Broadcom's licensing changes have resulted in sharp price increases for users of VMware's virtualization platform while also preventing thousands of cloud service providers from purchasing and deploying VMware products under previous arrangements.
The associations argued that immediate regulatory intervention is necessary to prevent further disruption in the market while investigations continue.
They specifically asked EU Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Teresa Ribera, and EU Commissioner for Technology, Henna Virkkunen, to introduce a transition period of at least three years, allowing affected businesses to adapt while the Commission completes its antitrust review.
Broadcom rejected the allegations, maintaining that CISPE's claims do not accurately reflect market conditions.
The company described CISPE as an organisation backed by major cloud service providers, commonly known as hyperscalers, and accused it of misrepresenting the competitive landscape.
"We continue to be committed to investing significantly in our European VMware Cloud Service Provider partners (VCSPs) helping them offer alternatives to the hyperscalers and meet the evolving needs of European businesses and organisations," a Broadcom spokesperson said.
The European Commission confirmed that it had received the joint letter but has not indicated whether it will grant the requested interim measures as the investigation continues.