[German]The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a market investigation into cloud services in the UK. Following an investigation by Ofcom, the aim is to examine in more detail whether there are any competition concerns and, if so, what measures can improve the offering of these important services to UK customers.
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Ofcom stands for Office of Communications and is the British media regulatory authority. It operates in the form of a public corporation. Its tasks also include monitoring competition. Ofcom has just published a market study on cloud service offerings in the UK. Ofcom estimates that the market for cloud services in the UK will be worth up to £7.5 billion in 2022.
After completing its coverage, Ofcom passed the issue on to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This is because there are concerns about competition in this market. Companies have complained about the lack of transparency in this market.
Ofcom Director Fergal Farragher,who led the regulator's study of the cloud market, said companies have expressed concerns that it is difficult to switch between or combine cloud providers. In a statement, it said Ofcom had identified a number of characteristics in the provision of cloud services that make it difficult for customers to switch and use multiple cloud providers. The features Ofcom is most concerned about are:
- Exit fees – fees that cloud customers must pay to move their data off the cloud.
- Discounts – which can incentivize customers to use only one cloud provider
- Technical barriers to switching – which could prevent customers from switching between different clouds or using more than one provider
The Ofcom report also outlines concerns raised about the software licensing practices of some cloud providers, notably Microsoft. The CMA is now launching a market investigation into the provision of public cloud infrastructure services in the UK based on the Ofcom report. The Verger has published an article on the subject, writing that Amazon and Microsoft are in the spotlight for their licensing practices.
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