In response to the new EU regulations, Google announced the waiver of cloud data migration fees for UK and EU users

According to Zhitong Finance APP, Google Cloud, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL.US), has announced the launch of a new service called Data Transfer Essentials, which is available for free to users in the European Union and the United Kingdom. This service allows enterprises running workloads across multiple cloud platforms to migrate data from Google Cloud to other service providers without incurring data egress fees.

Jeanette Manfra, Senior Director of Global Risk and Compliance at Google Cloud, stated in a blog post: "Although regulations allow cloud service providers to pass costs onto customers, Data Transfer Essentials is currently offered free to all customers."

This adjustment is in response to the EU Data Act, which will officially take effect on September 12, 2025. The act aims to enhance the accessibility, fairness, and portability of data within the EU and is part of the EU's broader Digital Strategy, which has the core goal of creating a fairer digital economy.

Currently, major tech giants (Amazon (AMZN.US) AWS, Microsoft (MSFT.US), Google) have begun to adjust their operational strategies to comply with the requirements of this act. Last month, Microsoft launched a cost-based data transfer service in the EU, while AWS allows customers to apply for rate discounts in specific scenarios.

These measures indicate that regulatory bodies' push for market competition has begun to reshape the cloud services market landscape. In July of this year, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority pointed out that Microsoft's software licensing model constitutes a barrier to fair competition