Signal exists, Telegram exists, and many providers are actually not charging per sms.

In many countries, WhatsApp's data usage is zero-rated, which makes WhatsApp more attractive than Signal, Telegram, etc.

sounds like a bit of a government sanctioned monopoly.

I mean for context, in those countries Meta paid to setup these networks. They're not a government-enforced monopoly, you're more than welcome to start a competing network.

they did this while the usa public was up in arms against them doing this in India. meanwhile meta was eating south America, eu, Africa...

Whatsapp has 3 billion active users.

Countries like Mexico or Spain have adopted it as the default form of messaging. Only today I used it to chat with our lawn maintenance guy, our car washer, and someone who's repairing our espresso machine.

I could maybe try to convince friends and family to use another app but I won't be convincing an entire country.

Think global. Act local