New research reveals the growing significance of RCS messaging
Vodnjan, Croatia, 09 October 2024 – A new whitepaper commissioned by global communications platform Infobip shows Rich Communication Services (RCS) traffic will quadruple over the next five years. Data from tech analyst Omdia shows RCS Application to Person (A2P) and Person to Person (P2P) traffic will increase from 1.5 trillion messages this year to more than 6 trillion messages in 2029. As a result, A2P RCS will generate revenues of $4.2 billion by 2029.
RCS is the next iteration of SMS, enabling consumers and businesses to send and receive rich messages via a data connection or Wi-Fi using the standard SMS inbox. Following Apple’s adoption of the telco messaging service in its latest iOS 18 update, Omdia expects RCS to have a cross-platform reach of an estimated 2.5 billion monthly active users by end-2024.
The research shows that the Americas and Asia & Oceania will be the primary drivers of A2P RCS traffic and revenue over the coming years:
| Region | Revenue 2024 | Revenue 2029 | Traffic 2024 | Traffic 2029 |
| Asia & Oceania | $169m | $2.2bn | 5.6bn | 64bn |
| Americas | $113m | $1.5bn | 4.7bn | 54bn |
| Europe | $22m | $324m | 800m | 11bn |
| Middle East & Africa | $13m | $220m | 545m | 8bn |
Charlotte Palfrey, Senior Analyst, Advanced Messaging and Communications at Omdia, said: “RCS offers significant benefits for enterprises and telcos. Enterprises should leverage Gen AI to enhance RCS experiences, making campaigns more personalized, engaging and effective in driving conversion. At the same time, telcos must work with the messaging ecosystem to raise RCS awareness among enterprises and consumers. Additionally, telcos should utilize RCS internally for marketing and customer care functions to demonstrate RCS’s capabilities and benefits.”
RCS has many benefits, and with the Apple upgrade, it now has universal availability. Consumers do not need to download a chat app to send and receive photos or videos. Meanwhile, enterprises can take consumers through the entire customer journey from initial marketing pitch to purchase and support. This is also a significant opportunity for telcos to seize the benefits of RCS Business Messaging and deliver rich conversational messaging for customers.”
Ivan Ostojić
Chief Business Officer at Infobip
Infobip enables enterprises and telcos to benefit from RCS Business Messaging through its Messaging-as-a-Platform (MaaP) service. Infobip’s MaaP solution provides messaging benefits, including throughput control, content and spam control, while Infobip’s CPaaS offering enables connectivity with other Mobile Network Operators. Benefits include detailed billing and reporting, faster brand and partner approval, additional user control, and managed service options.
Learn more about the research here: https://www.infobip.com/downloads/rcs-igniting-business-messaging
About Infobip
Infobip is a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected experiences across all stages of the customer journey. Accessed through a single platform, Infobip’s omnichannel engagement, identity, user authentication and contact centre solutions help businesses and partners overcome the complexity of consumer communications to grow business and increase loyalty. With over a decade of industry experience, Infobip has expanded to 75+ offices globally. It offers natively built technology with the capacity to reach over seven billion mobile devices and ‘things’ in 6 continents connected to over 9,700+ connections of which 800+ are direct operator connections. Infobip was established in 2006 and is led by its co-founders, CEO Silvio Kutić, Roberto Kutić and Izabel Jelenić.
Recent award wins include:
• Infobip named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) 2024 for the second year running (June 2024)
• Infobip named to Fast Company’s Annual List of the World’s Most Innovative Companies (March 2024)
• Infobip ranked as number one Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) provider, in the inaugural MetriRank CPaaS Report from Metrigy (Dec 2023)
• Omdia Ranks Infobip as Leader for the second year running in its CPaaS Universe Report (Nov 2023)
• Infobip named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) 2023 (Sept 2023)
• Infobip named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Communications Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) 2023 Vendor Assessment (May 2023)
• Infobip named a leader in the CPaaS Leaderboard, Juniper Research (March 2024)
• Infobip named a leader in the CCaaS Leaderboard, Juniper Research (Dec 2023)
• Infobip named a leader in the Juniper Customer Data Platform Leaderboard Report (July 2023)
