Just read an interesting article from Strategy Analysis we would like to explain our views about the hype of mobile messaging and the competition between OTT & Telco approaches.
New OTT messaging market is getting hot, Whatsapp, Thrutu, Google Huddle, Apple iMessage and others are great and will help RCS-e to succeed once launched. Till now, big telcos acting did not want to cannibalize SMS setting up their own messaging alternatives with probably less revenue. But today, most of them are realizing that auto-cannibalization is better than being devoured by others.
Current OTT messaging alternatives on mobile, such as Whatsapp and soon iMessage and Google Huddle, are getting people used to see IM as their phonebook or phonebook alike. RCS-e can allow carriers to surf that wave to their advantage. RCS-e is arriving perhaps late but with nice assets:
- Carriers can get manufacturers to include RCS-e (messaging) client in mid, and even low, device tiers.
- Interoperability, use the IM with the same reliability than SMS: the IM will arrive whatever carrier is serving your contact.
- In many countries telcos are required to know real customer identities. Carrier-based IM can then be used to facilitate and intermediate transactions, especially interesting in countries where banking access is basically done through the mobile phone.
- Telco API's to easily create person to solution use cases, that can be accessed through phonebook entries. It may replicate the success of SMS for VAS: once the use of SMS is learnt, it is the same to send an SMS to a person than to a service (sms-to-tv, buy ringtones, voting, etc).
- RCS-e VideoShare is a very powerful feature to be used as tool for live streaming or multimedia user generated content, competing with advantages over current closed OTT solutions.
- Also, telcos can offer RCS-e as ubiquitous access, offering clients for screens where perhaps the connectivity is not theirs (i.e: a Widget capable TV connected to another telco DSL).
RCS-e is not only about personal messaging but a service enabler, and even, RCS-e and OTT offering may co-exist and be complementary in delighting the user/customers, then not too late nor too little.
Your views?
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