Ofcom Probing UK Cloud Market

U.K. regulator Ofcom said Thursday it’s launching a probe of the nation’s cloud services market. “If competition concerns are identified it could lead to further action,” Ofcom said. Ofcom is also probing “digital services such as WhatsApp, Zoom and smart speakers, as online and traditional networks converge.” Cloud computing is "a huge and fast-growing market, which uses remote servers to offer services such as software, storage and computing power,” said a news release: “The user, who could be a person or business, makes use of these services but doesn’t manage them directly. The cloud has become an essential part of how products are delivered to telecoms users, as well as viewers and listeners of TV, radio and audio content.” Amazon, Microsoft and Google “generate around 81% of revenues in the UK public cloud infrastructure services market,” Ofcom said: “We will examine the strength of competition in cloud services generally and the position the three hyperscalers hold in the market.”