Google Asks UK Competition Regulators To Investigate Microsoft in Cloud Market
Microsoft and Amazon face growing scrutiny from competition regulators worldwide over their cloud business operations.
- Google is pushing the U.K.’s competition watchdog to act against Microsoft’s alleged unfair business practices.
- Google’s letter alleges that Microsoft’s licensing practices disincentivize customers from choosing alternatives.
Google has urged Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Britain’s antitrust regulator, to take action against Microsoft for alleged unfair business practices. According to the complaint, Microsoft’s licensing operations in the cloud market place competitors, including Google, at a major disadvantage.
Google has alleged that Microsoft’s licensing practices disincentivize customers from choosing other cloud computing alternatives and even hurt secondary service providers. The complaint states that the economics of such deals hurt competition regardless of features, prices, innovations, quality, and security of other products in the sector.
Google made several recommendations, including calling for better interoperability among platforms and banning Microsoft from slowing down security updates for customers who opt for alternative service providers.
See More: iOS 17 Feature Results in Warning From Law Enforcement Agencies
Microsoft responded to the allegations, stating that it was continuously making efforts to address such concerns by updating its licensing rules. It also highlighted collaborations with independent cloud providers in the market to refute Google’s claims and said that competition between cloud players was robust.
The complaint comes amid growing scrutiny of big tech companies by regulators worldwide, especially Amazon and Microsoft, about their dominance in the cloud computing sector. Currently, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure account for 70-80% of the U.K.’s public cloud infrastructure services. The CMA is already investigating the U.K.’s cloud market following a lead by media regulator Ofcom.
What do you think about Microsoft’s position in the cloud market? Let us know your thoughts on LinkedIn, X, or Facebook. We’d love to hear from you!
Image source: Shutterstock
LATEST NEWS STORIES
