Amazon, Microsoft and Google probed over cloud dominance

By

Sharecast News | 22 Sep, 2022

Media regulator Ofcom said on Thursday that it will investigate cloud services in the UK, including probing the dominance of Amazon, Microsoft and Google.

Ofcom said it would assess how well the market was currently working, the strength of competition, and the role of the three US giants, known as "hyperscalers".

Ofcom said that between them, Amazon - through its Amazon Web Services division - Microsoft and Google generated around 81% of revenues in the UK's £15bn cloud services market.

It will also look at how the market is expected to develop in the future.

Demand for cloud services has surged in recent years. In 2018 less than 10% of all businesses’ global IT spend was on public cloud services, according to Ofcom, but that rose to 17% last year, in part because of the pandemic and the rise in remote working. Some analysts now expect the figure to reach 45% by 2026.

Selina Chadha, director of connectivity at Ofcom, said: "The way we live, work, play and do business has been transformed by digital services. But as the number of platforms, devices and networks that serve up content continues to grow, so do the technological and economic issues confronting regulators.

"That is why we’re kick-starting a programme of work to scrutinise these digital markets."

Ofcom will consult on its interim findings before pushing a final report within the next 12 months. Should it find that the market is not working well - with potentially negative impacts on businesses and consumers - the regulator can take a number of steps, including recommending government amends current regulation, referring the market to the Competition and Markets Authority, and taking enforcement action.

Ofcom will also start a broader investigation over the next year to examine other digital markets, including messaging services, video calling and smart speakers.

"We are interested in how services such as WhatsApp, FaceTime and Zoom are affecting the role of traditional calling and messaging, and how competition and innovation in these markets may evolve over the coming year," the regulator noted.

Last news