Ofcom, the UK regulator for the broadcasting, telecommunications, and postal industries, announced that it would investigate the Big Techs Amazon, Microsoft, and Google to ensure their dominance in areas such as cloud computing, messaging, and smart devices work properly and healthily competitive in Britain. These “hyperscalers” would control more than four-fifths of the UK’s cloud computing market, about half of which is made up by Amazon.
The regulator is launching a 12-months study regarding digital markets in the communications sector, increasing its scrutiny of Big Tech competition practices. With cloud infrastructure playing an increasingly vital role in delivering telecom services, Ofcom looks to ensure that operations across the £15bn UK cloud market are properly serving customers and healthily competitive.
In the coming weeks, Ofcom will launch the market study under the Enterprise Act 2002. The largest providers of cloud services – known as ‘hyperscalers’ – are Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, and Google. Collectively, these three firms generate around 81% of revenues in the UK public cloud infrastructure services market.
Over the next year, Ofcom will also examine other digital markets, including online personal communication apps and devices for accessing audiovisual content. The regulator is interested in how services such as WhatsApp, FaceTime, and Zoom affect traditional calling and messaging and how competition and innovation in these markets may evolve over the coming years.
