On October 5, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK's antitrust regulator, announced that it has launched an investigation into the UK cloud services market. According to the comprehensive regulatory sources, the investigation is aimed at Microsoft Azure cloud products and Amazon Web Services (AWS), which occupy an important position in the UK market.

The investigation is related to a report by the UK Communications Authority (Ofcom), which launched a study into services in the UK cloud market in October 2022 and published its 254-page final report on 5 October 2023.
Cloud computing has become critical for many businesses in the digital economy, changing the way businesses provide people with digital services. Cloud service providers leverage data centers around the world to provide businesses with remote access to services such as software, storage, and networking.
Ofcom's survey of cloud services market share in the UK
Ofcom estimates that the UK cloud services market will be worth up to £7.5 billion in 2022. Among them, Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure can be called the "two giants" of the UK cloud service market, accounting for 70%-80% of the share; In third place, Google's cloud services account for about 5% to 10%; The vast majority of cloud customers are using these big companies' cloud services.
Ofcom pointed out that high data transfer charges, promised discounts and technical barriers to switching have constrained business customers. If left unchecked, competition in key digital markets for the UK economy could worsen.
"A number of UK businesses have told us they are concerned that it is too difficult to switch or use multiple cloud providers." Fergal Farragher, Ofcom's director of market research, said: "We have therefore referred the market to the CMA for further review to ensure that business customers continue to benefit from cloud services."
The CMA welcomed Ofcom's move, saying effective competition in the £7.5 billion UK market was vital.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said: "We welcome Ofcom's suggestion that we take a deeper look at public cloud infrastructure services, a £7.5bn market that underpinned a whole suite of online services from social media to the underlying model of artificial intelligence. Many businesses now rely entirely on cloud services, making effective competition in this market critical.
The CMA's independent panel of inquiry is currently conducting an investigation to determine whether competition in the cloud services market is good and what action should be taken to address the problem if competition is impaired. The CMA's market investigation could take up to 18 months to complete, with a statutory deadline of 4 April 2025.
In response, Microsoft said in a statement: "We are committed to ensuring the UK cloud industry remains innovative, highly competitive and an accelerator of growth across the economy." "We will work constructively with the CMA as they conduct their cloud services market research."
Amazon disagreed with Ofcom, saying that "Ofcom's findings are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how IT operates and the services and discounts offered," adding that "any unwarranted intervention could cause unintended harm to IT customers and competition." But Amazon also said it would work constructively with the CMA.