One of the free VPN services – PCW – will be discontinued

Virtual private networks offering an encrypted connection, i.e. VPNs (virtual private networks) are not only useful when we want to hide our data traffic, as they also enable us to access online services and content that would otherwise not be available at our place of residence. are available.

Those who are interested in technology can now choose from a number of options, but now there is one less player after the operators of one of the smaller but popular services announced that they are pulling down the curtain.

It is precisely about the Atlas VPN used by about six million people, which, following the freemium model, was basically free, with paid additional functions. The American PC World based on his report, the operator identified the ever-increasing market competition and rising costs as the main reasons for the farewell, which represented an “insurmountable” challenge for the company.

Since Atlas VPN was already acquired in 2021 by Nord Security, one of the largest players on the market, the affected users are now not let go, but are redirected to the parent company’s own service, Nord VPN. Atlas’s farewell will take place today, April 24, which customers were informed about in advance.

In connection with what happened, the PC World notes that the VPN market, which is estimated to be worth around $40 billion worldwide, is undergoing strong consolidation, and this is not necessarily good news for users. In this way, the data of more and more people is concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer large service providers, who, moreover, do not always make it clear that they are behind smaller, seemingly independent services like Atlas.

Based on a 2022 research, the world’s 105 most popular VPNs are owned by 24 companies, while six members of the TOP 10 list are owned by only three companies, Kape Technologies, Ziff Davis and Nord Security.