https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/20/chat-googles-big-shot-at-killing-apples-imessage

Tech giant behind Android corrals phone operators around the world to launch a unified SMS replacement

Google has unveiled a new messaging system, Chat, an attempt to replace SMS, unify Android’s various messaging services and beat Apple’s iMessage and Facebook’s WhatsApp with the help of mobile phone operators.