Tech giant Apple is in talks with Google to introduce Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging to mobile phone users in India this year.
According to a report, this partnership will allow Apple to introduce its blue-bubble message feature on Android phones, which is currently available only on iPhones.
The tech giant has already rolled out P2P (person-to-person) RCS messaging in eight countries: the United States, Spain, France, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and China. The RCS messaging is enabled with many of the operators in these countries. Apple’s iMessage client works on Google backend servers in the above-mentioned countries except China, where Google is not present. Apple looks to take the same approach in India by partnering with Google, which has already partnered with telecom operators Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio, the report said.
The report further said that Bharati Airtel will not be partnering with Google for RCS messages as it may spam users. ““Until Google allows Airtel to identify spam messages using its proprietary tool, RCS will not be onboarded…since Google RCS is an OTT service, it bypasses the Airtel intelligent solution much as all OTT services do,” an Airtel executive told the media outlet.
Airtel has also asked the telecom regulator to bring OTT messaging platforms under anti-spam regulations.
Rich Communication Services (RCS)
Rich Communication Services (RCS) is a communication protocol between mobile operators and phones. It is designed to replace SMS and MMS messaging. RCS offers a more enhanced messaging experience by supporting features like high-resolution photo and video sharing, group chats, read receipts, and typing indicators, similar to popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and iMessage. RCS messages work over the internet rather than a traditional text message network.
