Google partners with Telenor to launch RCS messaging service

Over the past year, Google has worked with the mobile industry on an initiative to upgrade SMS for people everywhere. Their sole goal: to provide a more enhanced messaging experience through RCS (Rich Communications Services).

Google has now announced their partnership with Telenor to enable the launch of RCS messaging to their 214 million subscribers across Europq and Asia including Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and India. The subscribers will have access to advanced messaging features as a standard part of their Android device.

The service has many features like group chat, high-res photo sharing, read receipts and more that will come standard on Android. Subscribers will have their SMS experience upgraded through the Messenger app for Android devices, developed by Google. The service will be powered by the Jibe RCS cloud from Google.

In markets where RCS is launched, Telenor subscribers who already have the Messenger app on their phone will automatically get access to RCS services through an app update. Subscribers who don't have the app can install the Messenger app from the Google Play store. In addition, as part of the partnership with Telenor, many new Android devices will come with Messenger for Android preloaded as the default SMS and RCS messaging app.

This RCS messaging implementation supports the GSMA universal profile—a standard supported by more than 58 carriers and manufacturers collectively covering a subscriber base of 4.7 billion people globally. We’ve launched RCS messaging using the universal profile with carriers in the US and Canada, and plan on launching RCS in more countries in the coming months.