When sending emails/SMS, we don't have to worry about the network, service provider or the client our intended recipient uses. Because it doesn't really matter if you are a @Three or a @Verizon Customer, Gmail or an Outlook user. However, that always wasn't the case. As mobile phone usage proliferated in the '90s, you could only message users on the same network. That was until big North American telco discovered that a veritable gold mine could be unlocked by users messagings their friends on rival networks. A win-win situation majorly possible because of INTEROPERABILITY. In 2022, interoperability and decentralisation in the online messaging sphere received a big boost both in Europe (Digital Markets Act - DMA) and in the US (ACCESS Act). For instance, the DMA is targeted mainly at Big Tech "gatekeepers", those with a market capitalisation of at least €75 billion / an annual turnover of €7.5 billion and with at least 45 million monthly end users in the EU and more than 10,000 annual business users. Non-compliance is costly too with a  threat of fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover should they breach requirements (or even 20% for repeat violations). This means that  smaller platforms will be able to request that dominant gatekeeper services open up their APIs and enable their users to be able to exchange messages, send files or make video calls across messaging apps, expanding choice and countering the typical social platform network effects that create innovation-chilling service lock-in. Today if one objects to the policies of a Big Tech messaging provider, it's hard to switch to a rival as one would lose the ability to message their friends. These interoperability changes are significant as they will empower you to do so. Reducing the moat of "network effects" at the cost of privacy breaches/feature limitations/data monetisation. However, the elephant in the room creating friction when enforcing interoperability is end-to-end encryption.  This is not only relevant for consumers, potentially one day sending messages across  WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, etc. but also enterprises using Slack, Teams, etc.   Interestingly, Interoperability is also being driven for digital wallets (Open Wallets) and maps (Overture Foundation) too.