This Swedish firm has dialled Jio, Vi and Airtel to get Indians hooked to richer SMS alternative

Sinch AB, a Swedish communications platform service provider, will enable rich communication services (RCS) messaging to users of major Indian telecom companies. After partnering with Vodafone Idea Ltd and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, Sinch has now onboarded Bharti Airtel Ltd as well.

Global chief executive Laurinda Pang told Mint in an exclusive interaction that Apple enabling RCS on iPhones has opened up an opportunity for the technology in markets like the US and Europe. Even in India, a market dominated by Google’s Android mobile operating system, there’s a compelling case for enterprises to use the advanced messaging platform, Pang said.

“India has done well with regards to RCS. We can leverage India for the rest of Sinch; there’s plenty we can learn here and that is very tactical,” she said.

RCS offers a more advanced messaging experience compared to the traditional short messaging service (SMS), enabling features such as rich media, group chats, and interactive content. 

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While text messages in India have largely been used for app-to-person communication such as one-time-passwords, app-based messaging between users has been dominated by Meta’s WhatsApp, with more than 500 million users in the country. 

India being its largest market, WhatsApp is also betting big on catering to enterprises by enabling conversation-based commerce or shopping within the messaging app. 

RCS expects to chip away at this large market but a major challenge lies in educating enterprises to use the service readily available on the phones of their potential end-customers, Pang said. 

According to industry estimates, RCS volume in India is about 1.3 billion messages a month.

The non-spam opportunity

Following the Indian telecom regulator’s directive to service providers to curb spam messages and calls, telecom operators may have to raise tariffs as more traffic is likely to be routed through regulated channels, said Sinch’s India head Nitin Singhal. 

This would lead to a better experience for end-consumers with fewer spam, and provide platforms like Sinch a higher revenue generation opportunity, he said.

“Contrary to reduction in revenue, it would actually go ahead and maybe give us an opportunity to increase the revenue, because right now messaging is commoditized,” he said.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Tuesday issued directions ordering telecom service providers to enable traceability of all messages from November, among a series of measures aimed at curbing spam. 

As per Trai’s directive, telemarketing calls starting with the 140-series (assigned to telemarketers) will have to be migrated to an online DLT (digital ledger technology) platform or on blockchain by 30 September to enable better monitoring. 

Also read | Mint Explainer: Trai's latest crackdown on spam calls—inside the latest measures

From 1 September, messages containing non-whitelisted URLs or website links, APK or file format used by Android for installing apps, OTT (over-the-top apps) links, or call-back numbers will be prohibited.

Last week, Trai directed telcos to disconnect all telecom resources of unregistered telemarketers found making spam calls, and to blacklist them for up to two years.

With the growing incidence of phishing, spamming, and other fraudulent activities, Trai’s measures are expected to significantly curb the misuse of messaging services and protect consumers from fraudulent activities, the ministry of communications said in a statement.

Pang said markets and regulators globally faced the same challenges as in India in terms of identifying and penalising miscreants. 

“Ultimately, I think there probably is a role with the telcos, very specifically to get more aggressive… in terms of voice fraud, messaging fraud, and play a more significant role,” she said.