Amazon and Google ‘should face probe over cloud service competition concerns’
Amazon and Google ‘should face probe over cloud service competition concerns’
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The UK’s competition regulator should consider investigating Amazon and Microsoft’s cloud services under new digital markets rules, an independent inquiry group has said. Publishing its provisional findings on an investigation into the cloud services market in the UK, the group said competition in the £9 billion sector was not working as well as it could be.
This could be leading to higher costs, less choice and innovation and a lower quality of services for businesses across the UK – in a sector dominated by Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft, who each have around a 40% share of consumer spend in the market.
In its report, the inquiry group said Microsoft in particular was using its strong position in software to make it harder for AWS and Google – the third largest player in the market – to compete effectively for cloud customers that wish to use Microsoft software on the cloud.
This is reducing the competitive challenge that AWS and Google can provide to Microsoft’s position in the cloud market, the report said. It also said there were technical and commercial barriers that made it difficult for users to switch between different cloud providers, which was locking them into initial choices.
As a result of these concerns, the inquiry group said it was recommending the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) use its powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA) to investigate, and consider whether AWS and Microsoft should be designated with strategic market status.
