The RCS is a text message protocol and its name is due to the acronym for “Rich Communication Service” or enriched communication service. This new vitaminized text message is being promoted by Google and its main objective is the United States public, which continues to be a great customer of traditional short messages, but soon, they want to take the place of Instant messaging platforms.
In 2016, the new RCS had the objective of positioning itself much faster and for this Google made every effort with its Messages app to get everyone to adopt, as available, this new communication standard; however, it has taken a little longer.
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How the RCS came about
The rise of instant messaging and applications dedicated to communicating between users within their own platform led several operators to announce a new strategy during MWC 2016. It is an alliance of several companies with Google to develop the RCS and that it was called to be the successor of the traditional SMS.
The objective of this development is that it has the capacity to offer you on your mobile the same features that are included in any of the well-known messaging applications. For example, WhatsApp. From being able to send photos, videos, voice notes, emojis and GIFs, without the need to use any additional client, simply from the native SMS app of your mobile and without the need to make any additional registration.
The goal of the operators involved and Google was to break the monopoly, since simply using your mobile and having an active telephone line is more than enough for you to have the service, something very much in the style of Apple’s iMessage.
In fact, all the applications that use the same standard would be compatible with each other , in this way it is guaranteed that the messages arrive without problem from one terminal to another. In the event that you send one of these rich messages to a person who does not yet have any of the related apps, it will simply arrive as a regular SMS.
Everything reads very well, so far. If you are wondering what the problems with this protocol might be, it has to do with security; because the messages would not be encrypted from end to end and that means that there are no layers of protection to prevent operators, governments and any cybercriminal from having access to your information.
However, Google managed to solve this problem with its Messages app, which after some time developing the RCS, finally incorporated encryption in the messages , but it is not a guarantee that it can be extended to other apps that adopt the protocol.
More than 55 operators from around the world were involved in the project and its development , in addition to Google as the main developer. Microsoft also joined, which at the time planned to add it to its operating system for computers, in addition to joining 11 mobile manufacturers, but the list does not include Apple, clearly, because this standard would be a clear competitor with iMessage.
Initially, the operation of RCS was established as follows:
- You send a message that would go through the servers of your operator
- It would then go to a GSMA certified server called Jibe Cloud.
- Finally, the server would take care of getting your message to its recipient as quickly as possible, adding all the enriched elements that have been incorporated, regardless of the destination operator.
An alternative to WhatsApp
The arrival of WhatsApp even ended BlackBerry Messenger and its golden age. The truth is that instant messaging canceled traditional SMS to its minimum expression and with it the operators, reducing them to being simple Internet providers; however, the RCS would be the weapon to combat it… a weapon that has taken its time to take effect.
To speed things up, Google added RCS support to its Messages app, allowing for many rich elements in the conversation. But the limitation could again be in the hands of the operators, while WhatsApp has a fairly solid base, which even managed to overcome the wobble of the change in privacy conditions that affected them in 2021.
The other limitation is Android only support and no Apple support going forward. It is understandable that the bitten apple does not want to join, since with this they would be killing their own rich platform that is iMessage.
Hiroshi Lockheimer himself, Vice President of Android, in 2021 made the public offer for Apple through his Twitter account, providing support for the development and implementation of RCS messaging on the iPhone, a message that (at least publicly) did not had an answer.
Certainly, if RCS were to be implemented in a standardized way throughout the world, it would take a lot of weight away from other platforms such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger , even from less popular but widespread ones such as Telegram or Signal; the same fate that Apple’s iMessage would have, if it joined the platform.
How to use RCS
At this time, the RCS has not managed to position itself in the way that was enthusiastically expected between 2016 and 2018. Only Google with its Messages app has managed to offer the service more effectively to users , millions of people use Messages in the world as their messaging app when they have an Android terminal. However, there is a great limitation when using the RCS and they are the associated costs of each operator.
To use the RCS from your mobile, you will see that it is a very intuitive tool on Android.
- Go to Messages and verify that you have enabled the encryption of your messages.
- Once you write the text you want to send, you will find next to the box to write two buttons : the first to attach photos and the second with a “+” sign that will help you add GIFs, Stickers, files, location, etc. contacts and will even allow you to schedule delivery.
- After finishing creating the message, you simply have to send it with the arrow on the right side , if the person has the same app and the service is available with their operator, they will receive your RCS without any problem, including all the elements you have added. .
The future of RCS
Expert Market Research firm predicts that the global market for Rich Communication Services (RCS) will have a great boost in the next five years , due to the increasing penetration of smartphones.
The expansion of the RCS can be clearly seen, according to this study, in the main regions such as the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. It will be a progressive growth that will be expanded in the following five years.
Currently, the RCS market has a value of 1,521 million dollars, but it is expected to grow up to 35 percent more in 2027, reaching a value of 2,061 million dollars.
Some factors, they point out, are determining factors in the growth of RCS, for example, the increasing demand for IoT devices , the expanded access to the Internet facilities in all industries, which has resulted in the greater digitization of any field.
Just take a look at the growth in the penetration of Internet services, which according to the World Bank, 49% of the world’s population had an Internet connection in 2017 , but just two years earlier, in 2015, there were only 41 .7% penetration.
Likewise, the increase in smartphone ownership is contributing considerably to the growth of the industry. By the end of 2019, the World Bank announced in its reports that 8 out of 10 people in developing countries own a smartphone , a number that has possibly increased during the pandemic.
In the case of the United States, significant market penetration is expected in the 2022-2027 period , an increase that will be supported by the growing availability of 5G networks in the region, which promote market growth.
The RCS also offers mobile network operators significant growth options for Internet communication and messaging services . Meanwhile, major technical developments in Asia Pacific are likely to drive market demand, resulting in RCS growth over the next five years.
RCS communication works online, but with proprietary web-based messaging services, though it certainly requires a phone system as with SMS services .
That is why the participation of the operators is crucial for this type of service to work. If the infrastructure does not exist to support this type of enriched messages, the participation of other tools and media , such as mobile phones, the Google app and the development of other applications that support the protocol, is useless.
