A new study from Juniper Research, the foremost experts in telecommunications markets, has found that Rich Communication Services (RCS) business messaging traffic will reach 50 billion messages globally in 2025; Apple’s first full year of support for the technology. This represents a single-year growth from 33 billion in 2024.
However, operators must partner with RCS business messaging (RBM) service providers which work with enterprises to create viable RBM ecosystems enabling large-scale growth of business messaging traffic. The study predicts that, in doing so, operators will best position their solutions for accelerated growth in RBM traffic in 2026 and beyond.
An extract from the new report, Global RCS Business Messaging Market 2024-2029, is now available as a free download.
Barriers to Growth in 2025…
To achieve this growth, the study urges operators to prioritise onboarding their RCS services to Google’s Jibe platform in 2025, for increased network interoperability and the reduced investment required to launch services. However, it anticipates a slow onboarding process will delay global RBM traffic growth in 2025.
…But Traffic to Accelerate in 2026
The study found that RBM will have a significant opportunity for growth in 2026, owing to increased operator support. Apple is also expected to expand RBM capabilities to more countries throughout 2025; driving further growth in 2026. In turn, the report forecast that global RBM traffic will reach 200 billion messages by 2029.
Research Author Molly Gatford commented: “Accelerating growth of RBM in 2026 will also require operators to offer basic RCS messages at the same price as SMS. This will support enterprises’ transition from SMS to RBM for transactional messaging, increasing familiarity with the channel to drive future growth.”
About the Research Suite
The new research suite offers the most comprehensive assessment of the RCS business messaging market to date, including market analysis and in-depth forecasts for 60 countries. The dataset contains more than 24,000 market statistics within a five-year period. It includes a ‘Competitor Leaderboard’ plus an examination of current and future market opportunities.
Juniper Research has, for two decades, provided market intelligence and advisory services to the global telecommunications sector, and is retained by many of the world’s leading network operators and communications platforms.
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