RCS Messaging still not available for iPhones in Australia

Last year Apple announced that iOS 18 would support RCS messaging, and now almost a year since iOS rolled out to Aussie iPhone owners, there’s not sign of it working – so what is it and why?

Apple users will know the pain of messaging someone and getting a “Green bubble” – well it’s not really a pain for the Apple user, it’s the Android user who loses out in this situation. Why? Because SMS is an aged messaging system that doesn’t allow transmission of images and video in a very high quality, and also doesn’t allow for other nifty features of modern messaging like reactions and notification that the other person is typing.

Support for RCS won’t change the “Green bubble” situation, but it should make messaging a whole lot better overall.

However, a year on from EFTM asking all three networks what was happening with RCS support – we seem not too much further down the road.

Telstra told EFTM “RCS messaging is currently unavailable for iPhones in Australia. Telstra continues to collaborate with its partners to enable technologies that enhance customer experience on our network. As new features like RCS messaging become available locally, we will assess the necessary steps to support them for our customers.”

A TPG Telecom/Vodafone spokesperson said “Vodafone is committed to delivering the best possible messaging experience for our customers. With our mobile network now reaching over 1,000,000 square kilometres, we’re excited about the potential of RCS to complement this expansion and enhance how Australians connect. We’re actively exploring how best to bring this capability to our customers and look forward to sharing more updates in the near future.”

While Optus told EFTM “Optus’ is continuing to progress towards enabling Rich Communication Services (RCS) and is actively engaging with both Google and Apple to ensure its implementation aligns with regulatory requirements. 

“We’ll continue to share updates as the program advances and key milestones are reached.”

It’s a baffling one, Android phones can do RCS messaging to each other – so what on earth is stopping this from being implemented.

Some conjecture online suggest that Android RCS was implemented by Google, and didn’t require carrier involvement. But then there’s the subtle line in the Optus comment about “regulatory requirements”.

Again, some of the speculation is that under Australia’s privacy laws, and law enforcement regulation the Telcos may have concerns that implementing RCS could pose a risk to their compliance. The thing is, iMessage on iPhone is an over the top, iPhone to iPhone via Apple servers. Why would it be any different from a regulatory perspective to have RCS do the same thing via different servers?

Just looking at the black and white statements from the Telcos, I’d think Vodafone is closest to implementation – or at least giving the right vibes to consumers.

Whatever the case, it’s overdue, and frankly disgraceful that this is taking so long.