So far, operators have failed to fully participate in the smartphone
revolution and, unless they address this shortcoming, will have little say in
its outcome.
RCS-e is mobile operators' much-anticipated and much-delayed response to
alternative messaging services from OS and application providers such as
Apple, Research In Motion (RIM), Google, Meebo and WhatsApp. This Viewpoint
assesses the prospects for RCS-e and outlines some of the critical success
factors for operator-provided messaging.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1 Executive summary
2 Recommendations
3 The basics of RCS-e
3.1 What is RCS-e?
3.2 What is - joyn ?
3.3 What does RCS-e do?
3.4 Why are operators launching RCS-e now?
3.5 How does it relate to RCS?
3.6 How does it relate to IMS?
3.7 Does RCS-e include VoIP capabilities?
4 RCS-e services are starting to come to market
5 Penetration of IM apps is already high among smartphone users and SMS substitution is underway
6 RCS-e aims to raise the lowest common denominator for messaging services
7 The 'fast follower' strategy requires speed to succeed
8 Strategic pricing is also crucial to the success of RCS-e services
9 Operators could address early adopters via third parties through service capability exposure
List of figures
Figure 1: Planned RCS-e service launches, 2012 2013
Figure 2: Penetration of messaging apps on smartphones, by OS type,
France, Germany, Spain, UK and the USA, August September 2011
Figure 3: Average SMS usage by country, Western Europe, 1Q 2004 3Q 2011
Figure 4: SMS service revenue growth, selected Western European countries,
1Q 2008 3Q 2011
Figure 5: Using third parties to segment the communications services market
RCS-e services: operator strategies for next-generation messaging published by Analysys Mason in April 10, 2012. This report price starts from US $ 2499.
