Deutsche Telekom’s operating companies in Romania and Slovakia have deployed rich communications services branded as Joyn.
Cloud company Jibe Mobile developed the white-label services, which are being delivered via Jibe’s IP communication cloud for DT’s Cosmote Romania and Slovak Telekom.
Joyn is the GSMA’s consumer brand for RCS offerings including integrated messaging, real-time chat and file sharing services on Android and iOS smartphones to compete with over-the-top providers.
DT was one of the carriers at Mobile World Congress this year that said it would be deploying RCS services by Jibe in Europe. Jibe launched its RCS Hub, which provides interconnection enablement for RCS, at MWC as well. The company lists among its carrier partners KDDI, Vodafone, MetroPCS, Telefonica, Sprint and DT.
Jibe works with Sprint in the U.S. for the carrier’s Messaging Plus RCS app that Jibe said is being pre-loaded on most of the Android devices that the carrier offers.
The new European launches continue the momentum of RCS, which operators hope to leverage in order to regain revenue and control that has been unwillingly ceded to OTT players. A survey of mobile operator executives released last month showed that 68% of the participants expected to have RCS initiatives by the end of 2015.
However, the execs expressed concern about the ability to monetize RCS in order to assure return on investment, and noted that RCS interoperability is still seen as a significant challenge.
“Expanding these rich carrier-driven communications services to our national companies in Europe such as Romania and Slovakia using the Jibe Communications Cloud and RCS Hub, is yet another win for Joyn and our customers throughout Europe,” said Kobus Smit, who is head of voice and messaging for DT and the GSMA’s RCS chair. “We are looking forward to continuing to connect our customers throughout Europe and inviting every carrier to join us in enabling these important services for their customers.”
Image from Jibe Mobile
