In a letter, Google and EU telcos called on the European Commission to designate iMessage as a “core” service to make the chat app fully compatible with rivals
Companies want chat app designated a ‘core’ service that would require it to be fully compatible with rivals
Context & Ripple Effects
The intervention lands after Apple and Microsoft argued that iMessage and Bing should fall outside gatekeeper rules, while regulators were already testing users’ and rivals’ views on iMessage and Bing. It makes iMessage a focal test of how the DMA’s service-designation criteria apply to communications platforms.
The dispute also exposes a split in platform incentives: Google had criticized the DMA’s broad obligation to open designated platforms, but is now aligned with telecom operators in seeking obligations for Apple’s messaging service.
First-order effects
- Google and participating EU telecom operators gain a formal channel to press the Commission for an iMessage designation and interoperability requirements; Apple faces added regulatory and evidentiary pressure during the assessment.
- The Commission must weigh the coalition’s arguments alongside Apple’s claim that iMessage lacks sufficient popularity when deciding whether the service meets the DMA threshold.
Second-order effects
- A designation would force Apple to plan technical and product changes around compatibility with rival messaging services, giving competing chat providers and operators a stronger route to reach iMessage users.
- The campaign raises the stakes for other messaging services already subject to DMA scrutiny, as shown by Meta’s appeal over Messenger’s core-service designation.
Third-order effects
- If regulators treat interoperability as central to messaging competition, control of a large user base may become less defensible as a closed-platform advantage even where a service contests its gatekeeper status.
- The outcome will help define whether DMA enforcement assesses communications services chiefly by standalone usage thresholds or also by their role in cross-platform access and switching costs.
The trend: European platform regulation is moving from broad gatekeeper labels toward contested, service-by-service decisions over interoperability and competitive access.