Ofcom is set to launch a study examining the role of Microsoft, Google and Amazon in the cloud services market.

Ofcom (British media regulator) is currently investigating Microsoft, Google and Amazon’s ‘tight grip’ on the cloud computing industry. In the weeks to come, Ofcom is set to launch a study in order to examine the position of the company's public cloud infrastructure and whether they cause any difficulties to competition (CNBC). The study will focus on “hyperscalers” like Google cloud, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure which allow such companies to access computing power and data storage from remote servers. Rather than hosting it on their own private infrastructure (CNBC). If any of the tech giants are found to be harming competition, further action could be taken by the regulator. A review will be concluded and a final report will be published within the 12 months, including any concerns and proposed recommendations. When contacted by CNBC, all 3 organisations were not available to comment straight away. This could cause uproar for investors within the trading market as bearish setbacks may arise.  

The regulator has been also chosen as the new enforcer of strict rules policing harmful content on the web. However, the legislation’s (aka the Online Safety Bill), chances of coming into force have shrunk after Liz Truss replaced Boris Johnson as PM. With the current economical crisis, it is clear that the online safety regulation problems will move to the bottom of the policy priority list for the government. Furthermore, the European Commission has passed digital laws that could restructure the business models of the tech giants. It has fined Google billions of dollars, supposedly for antitrust offences. Microsoft and Amazon are investigated in separate cases.