UK communications regulator Ofcom launched a cloud market study on providers Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)-owned Google and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to ensure markets are competitive and performing well.
Cloud providers, software vendors and professional service suppliers and customers will be asked to submit initial opinions on the evolution of the market and the nature of the competition, particularly in cloud ecosystems and infrastructure services.
The regulator intends to highlight possible competition concerns at an early enough stage to stop them from becoming embedded in the market, while also preventing higher prices, lower quality of service and lack of innovation.
Ofcom will seek to prevent characteristics that could limit growth and innovation by making it hard for smaller companies to enter the market and broaden their market share.
It had previously said it would examine the position of the three “hyperscalers” in a new program looking into the £15bn UK cloud services market.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google and Microsoft combined generate approximately 81% of the sales in the UK public cloud infrastructure market.
Cloud computing is a burgeoning market that uses remote servers to offer software, storage and computing power services, among others.
It has become a vital part of delivering products to telecommunication users and viewers and listeners of TV, radio and other audio content, according to Ofcom.
The regulator’s call for papers closes on 3 November, with it intending on publishing any findings within a year.