Britain’s cloud market needs competition probe, regulator says

Britain’s Ofcom said it planned to ask the competition regulator to investigate cloud services, a market dominated by Amazon and Microsoft.

The communications regulator said on Wednesday it had uncovered practices and features that made it more difficult for customers to switch and use multiple cloud suppliers, prompting it to refer the issue to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority for further investigation.

Amazon and Microsoft have a combined market share of 60-70%, while Alphabet’s Google is their closest competitor with 5-10%.

“High barriers to switching are already harming competition in what is a fast-growing market,” said Ofcom director Fergal Farragher in a statement.

“We think more in-depth scrutiny is needed, to make sure it’s working well for people and businesses who rely on these services.”

Microsoft said it would continue to engage with Ofcom.

“We remain committed to ensuring the UK cloud industry stays highly competitive, and to supporting the transformative potential of cloud technologies to help accelerate growth across the UK economy,” said a spokesperson for Microsoft.

Ofcom, which launched its probe into cloud services last year, said it would publish a final report setting out its findings and recommendations by October.