What Meta is actually changing
The WhatsApp Business account structure is evolving into two separate components: one managing phone numbers and business profiles, the other handling templates and billing. This enables businesses to operate multiple providers on a single phone number with isolated billing.
| Component | WhatsApp Business Account | Messaging Account |
|---|---|---|
| Holds | Phone numbers, usernames, profile, catalogs | Templates, billing, webhook subscriptions |
| Owned by | Always the business | Business or provider (one per provider) |
| Identifier | New, unavailable until Phase 2 | Keeps existing WABA ID |
Critically, the account holding your phone number remains yours. Partner accounts handling templates and billing may belong to service providers.
Why WhatsApp multiple providers becomes possible
Currently, a number belongs to one WhatsApp Business Account containing all components. Switching providers requires migrating the number, creating substantial friction that discourages changes.
Meta's documentation directly addresses this shift: "The phone number migration process that previously acted as a natural switching barrier no longer applies." This friction was structural, not technical — a competitive moat that Meta has now dismantled.
What WhatsApp multiple providers share
Adding a second provider does not increase capacity:
- Throughput remains at the phone number level
- Messaging limits remain at the business portfolio level (unique users per 24-hour period)
When multiple providers operate a single number, they share throughput and daily user limits. Billing separates by which application sends the message, but messaging capacity does not multiply.
What does not change
Deregistration processes, pricing models, and customer-facing experience remain unchanged. WhatsApp users see one trusted contact regardless of provider count.
The timeline
| Phase | Timeline | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | H2 2026 | Automatic migration, backward compatible, parallel providers enabled |
| Phase 2 | H1 2027 | New account identifiers become available |
| Phase 3 | H1 2028 | Mandatory transition to new identifiers |
No action is required from businesses during migration. The change shifts market dynamics: the structural cost of switching providers drops to near zero, and provider relationships become genuinely competitive.
