LIVE FROM CCA ANNUAL CONVENTION, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: Interop Technologies executive Josh Wigginton tipped adoption of rich communication services (RCS) to accelerate as operators focus on opportunities around application-to-person messaging, but cautioned hurdles still remain.

Wigginton, Interop’s VP of product management, said operators previously “dragged their feet” on RCS because they didn’t have a business case to monetise the technology.

Now that industry has identified application-to-person messaging as a key revenue opportunity and many operators have committed to launch, he said the “next hump is getting all those carriers interconnected”.

Such a move will help boost RCS, similar to how “SMS skyrocketed when all the carriers started interconnecting. It no longer is this little private island, but you’re connected to global ecosystem of subscribers”.

Growing opportunity
There are already around 300 million daily active RCS users worldwide, including 30 million in the US, and around 80 operators have already deployed the technology, Wigginton said. Those figures are expected to increase to more than 100 operator deployments by the end of 2019, he added, and more than a billion monthly active users by the end of 2020.

He noted RCS can serve both operators and brands alike, acting as a conduit for customer service chatbots, coupon offers and product purchases, among other things.