Signal CMA investigating the cloud services market

Summary

The Competition and Markets Authority is investigating the cloud services market to assess competition and improve outcomes for UK consumers and businesses. The report gives as background that two major companies held 70 to 90 per cent of the UK cloud computing market in 2023. Such concentration reduces users' control over data and services and can lock customers in to particular providers, making it hard to move elsewhere. The report lists the investigation, together with the Industrial Strategy and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, as mitigations against big technology dominance. It argues that stronger competition in digital markets would boost innovation and growth and widen opportunities for smaller firms to enter.