RCS: Walking dead or sleeping giant?

1Executive Summary

Rich Communication Services (RCS) is the mobile operator community’s attempt to shift real-time communications into the 21st century. This standards-led initiative, where all real-time communications will become applications carried over IP, has sparked little consumer interest, and critics are widespread. RCS is often seen as a feeble and futile counter defense to OTT communications applications such as WhatsApp and Skype. RCS faces substantial adoption and implementation challenges, but it also provides a number of long-term competitive opportunities to the mobile ecosystem and is backed by its largest participants.

This report reviews the opportunity and hurdles for RCS and tries to answer the key question: Is RCS a bust or does it have a future? Key findings include:

  • RCS is not a short-term defensive tactic for mobile operators to combat OTT, but a long-term strategy to segue consumers to all IP-based real-time communications.
  • As smart devices with native RCS clients increase consumer market share, RCS will gain traction because of seamless integration of RCS and non-RCS communications and users.
  • Mobile operators should concentrate on building APIs to third party, interoperating platforms which will become the business and technical partners to developers.

 

Thumbnail image courtesy: iStock/Thinkstock

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Mark Beccue

Independent analyst Mark Beccue Consulting

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