Is there a power struggle at the heart of RCS?

There appears to be growing uncertainty throughout the RCS community about next steps regarding the monetisation of RCS business messaging (RBM) traffic. With growing interest in RBM throughout the enterprise, companies involved in messaging are once again considering their next investment in RCS. Despite Google offering a turnkey RCS / RBM solution via its Jibe platform, our research reveals that companies are starting to explore third-party solutions to support their RBM offering.

This is potentially a throwback to before 2020 when Google announced its bombshell of Google Guest and its intention of making RCS an OTT messaging platform in markets where a deal with mobile operators could not be struck. Prior to this, a multitude of vendors were jostling to offer their MaaP (Messaging as a Platform) to mobile operators to allow them to fulfil the RCS monetisation process, and on the back of Google’s announcement, the majority of these companies backed away from RCS.

But times they are a changing.

Mobilesquared was commissioned by Openmind Networks to research the future of messaging with a specific focus on the RCS Business Messaging opportunity. Over 80 mobile operators (MNOs), and messaging and CPaaS specialists, participated in the research between October 2024 and January 2025, including C-level executives, product and marketing leaders, sales and business development professionals, and technical specialists.

The research confirmed there is growing interest among the enterprise for rich messaging, and RBM in particular, and armed with this knowledge, the MNOs and messaging and CPaaS specialists were surveyed to gauge their investment focus.

The findings highlight a dual emphasis on RCS infrastructure and revenue generation priorities. Campaign management emerges as the foremost concern, underscoring a commitment to enhancing usability for enterprises. Additionally, 48% of respondents prioritize billing processes, underscoring the importance of monetization in early RBM business cases. Agent verification, Messaging as a Platform, and infrastructure follow closely behind, emphasizing the pivotal role of robust infrastructure in RBM’s prospective success.

And this is where it gets interesting. The research highlighted that companies are seriously considering investing in infrastructure (27.4%) and a MaaP (40.3%). Given that these components are already provided by Google’s Jibe platform, it could be the first indication that companies feel that these are areas for additional investment to augment the Google RCS business messaging infrastructure and shape it more to their specific needs. It also hints at a jostling for position by the various players in the RBM ecosystem for control and visibility of RBM traffic.

So is a power struggle starting to emerge within the RBM ecosystem for control at the heart of the channel? Safe to say it’s a yes and no answer.

What the research revealed is that there is significant goodwill in the industry towards Google’s leadership of RCS. Although roughly one third of respondents see Google’s level of control as an issue over a half of responses could be categorized as positive towards Google with the remainder neutral on the issue. The reasons for ecosystem partners being positive towards Google’s leadership and control is clearly the benefits that accrue in terms of interconnectedness, interoperability and pathfinding a way forward for the industry.

However, if MNOs and service providers plan to invest in RCS infrastructure and MaaPs, interconnect and interoperability will be required, therefore potentially nullifying one of the main benefits of Google’s dominance.

Apple implementing RCS could act as a counterweight to the dominance of Google RCS business messaging, but the industry sees the Cupertino-based behemoth as having greater importance in driving the adoption of RBM among brands, and helping the channel to rival WhatsApp, rather than addressing any concerns relating to Google.

Despite 44.3% of industry respondents stating that Apple support for RCS will provide smartphone ubiquity around the world — this option was actually viewed as one of the lesser impacts of the Apple implementing RCS announcement — brands will be attracted to the additional reach that iOS will bring to RCS.

And these are some of the reasons why RCS is now gaining significant momentum. To find out more, please download the Future of Messaging Report 2025 by Openmind Networks.

For more insights on the future of RCS, contact nick@mobilesquared.co.uk.