Google has written to European regulators, urging them to open up Apple’s iMessage for all platforms, as reported by the Financial Times on Wednesday. The European Union Commission accused Apple of restricting iMessage in September. Google’s letter supported this claim by saying “we agree.”
European regulators are currently investigating whether Apple should comply with the Digital Markets Act, which would require iMessage to work seamlessly with all messaging platforms, including Android and WhatsApp. A letter seen by reporters from the Financial Times, written by a Google senior vice president and other telecom executives, argues that Apple’s services meet the act’s thresholds and should be regulated to benefit European consumers and businesses.
The Digital Markets Act defines gatekeepers as “large online platforms that provide an important gateway between business users and consumers, whose position can grant them the power to create a bottleneck in the digital economy.” Google’s letter asserts that this is the “fundamental nature” of iMessage.
While Google expressed its opinion on Apple’s anticompetitive practices, it is also facing its own scrutiny from regulators. The Digital Markets Act designates Google Play, Google Maps, Chrome, and other services as gatekeepers as well. The search giant is also dealing with various antitrust lawsuits in the US.
The EU Commission has acknowledged receiving the letter but declined to comment further. Both Google and Apple have not yet responded to Gizmodo’s request for comment.
According to Apple, iMessage does not constitute an important gateway due to its smaller scale relative to other messaging services. The number of iMessage users was estimated to be 1.3 billion in 2022, whereas WhatsApp had 2.4 billion users in the same year.
“Consumers today have access to a wide variety of messaging apps, and often use many at once, which reflects how easy it is to switch between them,” said Apple in the same statement.
The commission has until February to reach a decision on the matter.
