Amazon Web Services leader Andy Jassy speaks via webcast about the new AWS Germany region.
Amazon Web Services leader Andy Jassy speaks via webcast about the new AWS Germany region.

Amazon Web Services this morning expanded its presence in the European Union, activating new data centers in Frankfurt, Germany, in an attempt to win more business from European companies. The data centers represent the company’s second region in the European Union (joining its existing presence in Ireland), and its 11th region around the world.

The company said the move will give customers more flexibility and redundancy in Europe, with two separate zones in Germany. Amazon also gave privacy assurances, outlining its practices for helping customers comply with EU data protection requirements.

The move comes amid tough competition for Amazon Web Services from Google, Microsoft and many other rivals in cloud computing.

The announcement was made via webcast from Germany by Andy Jassy, the AWS senior vice president. As part of the webcast, Jassy was asked by a customer about the financial outlook for Amazon Web Services, given its practice of steadily lowering prices.

“We’ve lowered our prices on 45 different occasions in the last 8-and-a-half years, largely in the absence of any competitive pressure to do so,” he said. “I think you should expect that to continue. … We are really excited and pleased with where the business is, and strongly believe that it will be a significant free-cash-flow generating business for years to come.”

Amazon announces its third-quarter earnings this afternoon.

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