Google is about to begin a campaign to move the mobile industry on to the next generation of messaging – and well placed industry observers expect Apple to follow this year.
The new messaging system is Rich Communications Services (RCS), which is expected to leap ahead of 25-year-old SMS text messaging technology by offering users video and other services.
Google is expected to upgrade the Android operating system to “to change the messaging client to RCS”, David O’Byrne, the IP communications project director at the GSMA, the mobile industry association, told Capacity.
The industry is aiming for a so-called “universal profile” that will mean all new Android phones will be RCS-capable and existing Android phones will be upgraded through a software update. “It depends on Android version,” said O’Byrne.
Google – which moved into RCS in September 2015 by buying New York-based Jibe for an undisclosed sum – has appointed a number of companies to an Early Access Program for RCS business messaging.
One of the companies, UK-based Esendex, said that RCS “represents a huge leap forward in smartphone technology. For example, when a customer books their local taxi, they won’t just get a message to say it’s on its way, but a map, perhaps a photograph of the driver and even the opportunity to change the journey, all through text message.”
Other companies in Google’s development programme include 3C, Aldeamo, CLX Communications, CM Telecom, Experian, ICF Olson, IMImobile PLC (LON:IMO), Impact Mobile, Link Mobility, MessageBird, mGage, Mobivity, Movile, OpenMarket, SAP, Silverstreet, Take, Tiaxa, Vibes, Vonage (Nexmo), Waterfall, Zenvia, and Zipwhip.
Gresham House Strategic PLC (LON:GHS) has a 12% ownership of IMImobile PLC, correct as of 31 December 2017 month end NAV announcement, released 2 January 2017
