TECHNOLOGY
15 % Mobile Users With Access to an RCS-Compatible Network ( 2020 )
40 +%
Mobile Users With Access to an RCS-Compatible Network ( 2025 )
the technology does become an available option on every smartphone in the world , that might not actually translate into the sea change that Google , the GSMA , telecom operators , and ambitious new age marketing firms are hoping for . In the increasingly harsh light of this inconvenient truth , is the RCS hype bubble about to pop ?
RCS vs the Status Quo The 4G era brought about better connectivity across larger networks , ushering in the services that pretty much define the lives of billions of consumers around the world today . OTT streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu rewrote the rulebook for the entertainment industry . Apps like Uber , Deliveroo , and Postmates have absolutely transformed the way we travel and consume ( in a very literal , food-related sense of the word ). And OTT communications platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger came to dominate how we talk online .
As our data connections got better , we collectively gravitated away from SMS messaging towards the feature-rich , free , highly integrated experiences provided by those OTT messaging platforms . For the telcos , this has been a disaster . “ They ’ ve lost the messaging market over the last decade ,” explains George Glass , the Chief Technology Officer at TM Forum . Now , he continues , “ It ’ s hard to see how mobile operators or CSPs can move into a market where the product , WhatsApp , is free , doesn ’ t promote adverts and offers such a rich experience . There doesn ’ t appear to be much of an angle .”
It ’ s a troubling thought that carriers ( and Google ) might be investing so heavily to provide an alternative to a problem that , from the consumer point of view , doesn ’ t exist . Despite Google ’ s attempts to “ use RCS to catch up with WhatsApp and others like it ,” Glass reflects that it ’ s hard to see how it will gain penetration .” One of the biggest sources of this stumbling block is the fact that , since RCS is a Google-developed technology , it has yet to make the jump to
96 September 2021