South Korea Launches Commercial RCS Messaging for iPhone

Seoul, South Korea - SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus announced Wednesday that they have converted iPhone Rich Communication Services (RCS) business messaging from beta testing to commercial service.

RCS is a messaging protocol that enables users to send longer text messages and transmit high-quality files compared to traditional Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), the companies said.

The service had previously been limited to Android operating systems in South Korea until Apple began supporting RCS on iOS last year, according to the carriers.

The three operators launched RCS peer-to-peer messaging and an open beta version of RCS business messaging in September, following the iOS 18 update, they said.

The commercial launch follows testing of the service's stability and compatibility.

The service is available to customers using iOS 18 or later on iPhone XS series models.

The commercial version includes changes to the iPhone RCS business messaging environment, the companies said.

Long-form business messages that previously displayed truncated content now appear in full for text-only messages without buttons.

iPhone users can now view brand profiles when receiving messages from businesses, according to the carriers.

When companies register their brands on the RCS Biz Center, brand logos appear in messages, which the operators said helps prevent smishing.

RCS business messaging provides statistical data on customer responses, including message click rates, the companies said.

An image template product is available at a lower cost than traditional text services, according to the carriers.

The service can be sent to customers of mobile virtual network operators as well as the three major carriers, and messages can be received while roaming, the companies said.

The number of RCS users in South Korea stands at approximately 42 million.