UK regulator to push for probe into Amazon, Microsoft cloud dominance

British media regulator Ofcom will this week push for an antitrust investigation into Amazon and Microsoft’s dominance of the UK’s cloud computing market, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The recommendation, first issued by Ofcom in April, will remain in the body’s final report on the matter, set to be published on Thursday, one of the sources said.

Between them, Amazon and Microsoft enjoy a combined market share of 60 to 70 percent. Meanwhile, their closest competitor, Alphabet’s Google, has around 10 percent.

The watchdog previously said it had considered referring the market for investigation by the CMA, the British competition regulator.

Ofcom warned the current state of Britain’s cloud computing market made it difficult for some existing customers to bargain for a good deal with their provider.

Technical restrictions and discounts encouraging customers to keep using a single provider for all their needs, even when better alternatives were available, could be considered anti-competitive, the body said in a report earlier this year.

“We are concerned that constraints on customers’ ability to use more than one provider could make it harder for smaller cloud providers to win business and compete with the market leaders,” it read.

Both Amazon and Microsoft previously said they would continue working with Ofcom ahead of the publication of its final report.

In response to Ofcom’s earlier proposal, Microsoft submitted a 58-page response, stating an investigation could ultimately harm consumers.

“It would be a particularly unfortunate outcome if UK businesses and public sector customers faced less vibrant and competitive cloud solutions on a global stage than those available to their rivals in the EU, the US and China,” it said.

Amazon and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for Ofcom said: “We will be announcing our decision whether or not to refer the market to the CMA by the statutory deadline, which is Thursday October 5.”

A spokesperson for the CMA declined to comment.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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