UK Regulator to Advocate for Investigation into Amazon and Microsoft Cloud Dominance, Reports Reuters

By Martin Coulter and Foo Yun Chee

LONDON – British media regulator Ofcom is set to advocate for an antitrust investigation into the dominance of Amazon and Microsoft in the UK’s cloud computing market. This move comes as both companies collectively hold a market share of 60-70%, while their nearest competitor, Google’s parent company, occupies around 10%.

Ofcom’s intention to pursue an antitrust probe, initially indicated in April, will be included in its final report on the matter, which is expected to be released on Thursday. The regulator has previously contemplated referring the case to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s competition watchdog.

The regulator has expressed concerns about the current dynamics of the cloud computing market, suggesting that it hampers existing customers’ ability to negotiate favorable terms with their providers. In a report published earlier this year, Ofcom noted that technical limitations and discounts that encourage customers to remain with a single provider could be interpreted as anti-competitive behavior.

The report stated, “We are worried that restrictions on customers’ capacity to use multiple providers may hinder smaller cloud services from gaining traction and competing with market leaders.”

Both Amazon and Microsoft have indicated their willingness to cooperate with Ofcom ahead of the release of its final report. In response to Ofcom’s earlier suggestions, Microsoft provided a comprehensive 58-page submission, arguing that an investigation could ultimately be detrimental to consumers.

“It would be unfortunate if UK businesses and public sector entities found themselves with less competitive cloud solutions compared to those available to their counterparts in the EU, the U.S., and China,” the submission stated.

As of now, neither Amazon nor Microsoft has responded to requests for comment regarding the situation.

An Ofcom spokesperson has confirmed, “We will announce our decision on whether to refer the market to the CMA by the statutory deadline, which is Thursday.” Meanwhile, a CMA representative declined to comment.