Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary, AWS, announced that customers can now move their data out of its ecosystem without incurring any “egress fees.“
The announcement comes about two months after Google revealed its own intentions. Being the third-largest player in the public cloud market, Google felt compelled to set an example. If it’s more cost-effective to switch from AWS or Azure to Google Cloud, companies may be more likely to make the move.
The rules outlined in the European Data Act, which went into effect in January, nevertheless serve as a guide for these decisions. The aim is to enhance competition by enabling cloud users to transition between providers more seamlessly, whether to a new cloud service, by embracing a multi-cloud strategy, or by relocating all data to an on-premises system. 
Although AWS previously offered customers the ability to transfer up to 100GB of data per month from its servers at no cost, this allocation may not suffice for larger companies aiming to migrate their entire data repositories to another provider. This marks a significant shift for AWS customers, starting today.
It’s important to mention that the European Data Act focuses on promoting competition in Europe, while AWS’s decision impacts its global operations, much like Google’s earlier announcement this year.
If companies wish to transfer their data to AWS, they should reach out to AWS. AWS will then provide credits for the data migration. In a blog post revealing the updates, AWS principal developer advocate Sébastien Stormacq expresses his hope that you do not.
It is expected that Microsoft will also take similar action following the announcements from Google and AWS. Eltrys has contacted them for a comment and will provide updates accordingly.
I’m unsure about the implications of today’s news on the U.K.’s continuing antitrust investigation into cloud lock-in practices. One significant aspect of the investigation focused on egress fees. If Microsoft follows suit with its two competitors in implementing this change, it could alleviate concerns for regulators.
However, there are additional elements in consideration here. Another problem pointed out by the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was interoperability, focusing on situations where cloud companies intentionally make their products incompatible with competitor services. Eliminating fees may not completely eliminate the “technical barriers to switching,” as referred to by the CMA, so there might still be some regulatory challenges ahead.
