In­ter­op­er­abil­i­ty

• Interoperability between messaging services
• Study on interoperability regulations for digital services
• Study: “Interoperability between Messaging Services – Secure Implementation of Encryption”

Interoperability between messaging services

Interoperability obligations could encourage competition. However, depending on the type of obligations, they could also pose challenges, for example in the field of data protection and data security. The Bundesnetzagentur published a discussion paper on this topic.

The discussion paper published in December 2021 provides an overview of different technical interoperability approaches for messaging services. It also analyses the need for operability using key questions and looks at the various effects of possible interoperability obligations.

Study on interoperability regulations for digital services

The aim of interoperability obligations is to break up the market power of dominant providers and reduce dependencies. Regulations in the area of number-independent interpersonal communications services (such as messaging services) aim to stimulate competition by enabling users of different services to communicate across providers. The Bundesnetzagentur commissioned a study on various aspects of interoperability.

Study content and findings

The study examines a (lack of) interoperability as a possible cause or driver of concentration tendencies in digital markets and analyses the need for appropriate interoperability obligations. In addition to looking at the objectives and possible positive effects of such regulations, the study also considers a number of risks. Interoperability can enable market players at horizontal and vertical level to use previously company-specific network effects from different providers by requiring providers to open up systems that were designed to be closed (such as messaging services). This promotes competition for functions and quality (“competition in the market”) instead of competition for the largest number of users (“competition for the market”), which in turn can help to reduce lock-in effects.

• At vertical level, interoperability can facilitate modular combinations of services and create innovation incentives across upstream and downstream stages of the value chain. This is the case, for example, when providers of complementary services gain access to central interfaces for digital devices or services through interoperability.
• At horizontal level, interoperability can enable users of different messaging services to communicate across providers. At the same time, interoperability can lead to restricted opportunities for differentiation and innovation since it requires a certain degree of homogenisation, especially if a high level of standardisation is technically necessary to achieve effective interoperability.

In addition to the basic technical, economic and legal aspects of interoperability and their effects on services of the platform economy, a particular focus of the study is on online communications services and NI-ICS, for which the EU’s newly adopted Digital Markets Act (DMA) introduced an interoperability obligation for gatekeepers.
Although the services provided by the Meta group are the most popular online communications services and dominate the market, multi-homing (the parallel use of different services) is easily possible and a very common practice. There are generally a number of costs and risks associated with implementing interoperability obligations due to the high degree of technical complexity of such services; this gives rise to concerns about possible reductions in, for example, security levels (in particular end-to-end encryption), usability and market acceptance. In view of this, the authors recommend close regulatory support for the future practical implementation of the interoperability obligations in the DMA in order to minimise the identified risks in the best possible way.

Study: “Interoperability between Messaging Services – Secure Implementation of Encryption”

Germany’s Telecommunications Act enables interoperability obligations to be imposed for messaging services under certain conditions. In addition, Article 7 of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) lays down interoperability obligations for operators of core platform services with a gatekeeper position. This also applies to providers of NI-ICS. There are various questions about the practical implementation of interoperability obligations. For instance, the DMA requires the level of security (including any end-to-end encryption) to be preserved across the interoperable services (see Article 7(3) of the DMA). The Bundesnetzagentur commissioned a study in English on this particular aspect.

Study content and findings

The study looks at the question of whether and how end-to-end encryption can be technically implemented for interoperable messaging services and identifies the associated challenges in an interoperable environment. It first explains the technical basis for encryption in general and then looks at the use of encryption methods for messaging services, providing an overview of the encryption mechanisms used for the most popular messaging services.
The study goes on to make an in-depth analysis of the exchange of information that would be necessary for the interoperable use of messaging services. In view of the regulations in the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) the authors look closely at two options for implementing end-to-end encryption for interoperable messaging services: firstly, the provision of cryptographic interfaces supported by the gatekeeper’s libraries and, secondly, the development of a standardised communication protocol.
In both of the cases considered, the authors come to the conclusion that preserving end-to-end security for interoperable communication is achievable with available technical building blocks.