UK to investigate Amazon, Microsoft and Google cloud

The United Kingdom’s Office of Communications (Ofcom), the market regulator in the country, has decided to open an investigation into the cloud services offered by Amazon, Microsoft and Google with the aim of ensuring that the market “works well for citizens and companies”, as indicated in a statement.

In the last four years, the market share of these three companies in the UK has risen from 70 % in 2018 to 81 % in 2021. “The cloud has become an essential part of how telecommunications users receive products, as well as viewers and listeners of TV, radio and audio content”, the Office has indicated.

Ofcom’s investigation will examine how the market currently works, the level of competition between companies and the position that the three tech giants have.

“Because of how the cloud industry works today, we’re going to look at how the market is working today and how we expect it to develop in the future, trying to identify potential competition issues early to prevent them from becoming entrenched as the market matures,” the regulator said.

In the event that the conclusion of the investigation is that the market is not working well, Ofgem may make recommendations for legislative changes to the Government, adopt corrective measures and refer the case to the competition regulator.

In parallel, the entity plans to open an investigation into the market for personal communication ‘apps’, especially WhatsApp, FaceTime or Zoom. Ofcom’s aim is to find out how these apps are affecting the traditional calling and messaging market and whether there are any concerns about a lack of interoperability.

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Source: dpa