UK’s CMA Details Antitrust Investigation into Cloud Services Market

In response to concerns raised by Ofcom regarding the dominance of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft in the UK cloud services market, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has unveiled the initial focus of its antitrust investigation.

The CMA’s inquiry will center on specific areas identified in Ofcom’s year-long investigation, which potentially contribute to reduced competition among cloud service providers. They have called upon interested parties to provide feedback during a four-week consultation period, set to run until November 9, 2023. The insights gathered during this period will shape the course of the antitrust investigation, which is scheduled to conclude in April 2025.

Read more: UK Probes Amazon & Microsoft Cloud Services

The key areas under scrutiny include examining technical barriers that may hinder cloud users from switching providers or utilizing multicloud setups. Additionally, the CMA will investigate whether these obstacles result in users becoming locked into particular providers’ platforms.

Ofcom’s report also highlighted concerns about egress fees imposed by certain cloud providers. These fees, charged to customers for transferring data out of the cloud, have been marked for further investigation by the CMA.

Source: Computer Weekly