UK to publish provisional report on cloud computing in January

Britain’s competition regulator will release the provisional results of its cloud computing investigation in January instead of this month, according to a revised timetable published on Wednesday. ) is investigating cloud computing, a market dominated by Amazon’s AWS, Microsoft’s Azure and, to a lesser extent, Google Cloud Platform.after raising concerns that data transfer fees, volume discounts and other market features could deter consumers from switching suppliers or using multiple suppliers. The CMA is also examining software licensing practices. Microsoft’s in particular, for example Windows Server and its Microsoft 365 products on rival cloud platforms. The US tech giant is facing a legal claim in the UK over its cloud licensing policies.Competition lawyer Maria Luisa Stacey filed a case with the Competition Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday, claiming that British businesses and organizations could be owed more than 1 billion pounds ($1.27 billion) in total. ) in compensation. The United States Federal Trade Commission is also looking into the matter. Last week it opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft, according to a source familiar with the matter. The FTC is investigating allegations that the software company is potentially abusing its market power in manufacturing software to prevent consumers from transferring their data. Its Azure cloud service, sources confirmed earlier this month.