Operator enables Joyn subscribers to send instant messages to feature phone owners.
SK Telecom claimed on Monday that its joyn.T service has become the first RCS offering to surpass the 1 million subscriber mark.
The operator launched Joyn – the consumer-facing brand of the GSMA's Rich Communication Suite (RCS) – under the joyn.T brand in late December 2012. Since then it has tweaked the service so that data fees incurred from sending and receiving instant messages are not deducted from an end user's data allowance – a similar strategy that has been adopted by Joyn operators in Europe.
In addition, SK Telecom has also enabled subscribers to send Joyn messages to phones that do not have Joyn installed, which includes feature phones that are not compatible with the service. Any instant messages sent to a non-Joyn phone appear in the recipient's SMS inbox.
"SK Telecom aims to integrate all means of mobile communication into joyn.T to make it the most attractive choice for customers seeking an accurate and enriched communication service," said Wi Eui-Seok, EVP and head of product planning at SK Telecom, in a statement.
It will start by integrating joyn.T with its high-definition (HD) voice over LTE (VoLTE) service, which will become a standard feature on all phones sold by SK Telecom from March.
SK Telecom said it will also make its joyn.T APIs available to third parties in a bid to foster an ecosystem of entertainment, m-commerce and ICT services around its RCS offer.
Related:
- SK Telecom rolls out Joyn:http://telecomsrev.blogspot.pt/2013/01/rcs-e-joyn-sk-telecom-rolls-out-joyn.html
- RCS-e Joyn: Deployment world map:http://telecomsrev.blogspot.pt/2013/01/rcs-e-joyn-deployment-world-map.html
- Korea "joyns" the club (theartofmessaging blog): http://theartofmessaging.com/2013/01/17/korea-joyns-the-club/
Following news that SK Telecom has attracted over 1 million subscribers to its Joyn.T service, the question should be asked what have they done to achieve this? Could it be that SK Telecom enabled its subscribers to send joyn messages to contacts that are not signed up to the service or are off network, through SMS interworking, or was it the aggressive marketing activity around the service or other the rich features offered that made the service so attractive?
ReplyDeleteRecent messaging research conducted by Acision found SMS/MMS interworking to be a key features consumers want from a messaging service to enable ubiquitous communication, on top of the other rich messaging functionality such as delivery notifications, presence, seeing a reply being written and sharing rich content, such as videos and pictures. Additionally, SMS/MMS interworking provides operators with a unique capability that OTT providers like WhatsApp, Facebook and KakoaTalk can never offer.
The other key factor here is customer value. As almost all people mis-perceive OTT messaging services to be free thanks to data bundle pricing models, one way operators can compete with new messaging entrants is to follow a similar route as SK Telecom and other European operators. SK Telecom, for example, is offering unlimited, free-for-life joyn.T SMS/IMS services to its smartphone subscribers on flat-rate plans. Data fees incurred from sending/receiving messages are not deducted from subscribers’ data allowances. The operator is also offering open APIs to developers for games, social networking and mobile commerce, as well as having the ability to mine the usage data to provide targeted promotions to users. All services SK Telecom can monetize, while also adding value and building loyalty. We believe by demonstrating value for money with the added richness to the experience is key to successful service uptake.
Check out our blog http://www.theartofmessaging.com for more thoughts on RCS, including pricing options and the wider world of rich messaging.