The UK media regulator, Ofcom, is planning to advocate for an antitrust investigation into the dominance of Amazon and Microsoft in the British cloud computing sector, as reported by two sources with knowledge of the situation. Together, Amazon and Microsoft control around 60-70% of the UK's cloud computing market, while their closest competitor, Google, holds only about 10%. Ofcom's pursuit of this antitrust inquiry, which was initially hinted at in April, will be included in the final report on the subject set to be released on Thursday, according to one of the sources. Previously, Ofcom had contemplated referring this market for investigation to the UK competition regulator, the CMA. Ofcom has expressed concern that the current state of the British cloud computing market poses challenges for existing customers seeking favourable terms from their service providers.

Why does this matter?

The dominance of Amazon and Microsoft in the UK's cloud computing market has raised concerns about potential anti-competitive behaviour and its impact on fair competition. If an antitrust probe is initiated, it could lead to greater transparency, competition, and potentially better pricing and services for consumers and businesses utilising cloud computing services. The outcome of this investigation could have further implications for the tech industry and the digital economy in the UK.