LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– The GSMA today issued a new report titled, ‘Messaging as a Platform – The Operator Opportunity,’ that outlines how operators can play a central role in the future of Messaging as a Platform (MaaP). The report was created with contributions from AT&T, China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Metaswitch, Orange, KPN, Reliance Jio, Samsung, SK Telecom, Summit Tech, Syniverse, Telenor, Telia, T-Mobile US, Vodafone Group, WIT and Xura. The GSMA is working closely with mobile operators and the wider industry on the opportunities and enhanced services that MaaP brings to consumers.

MaaP combines the features of advanced messaging with standardised interfaces to chatbots and plugins that create a richer experience for consumers and allow businesses to realise the application-to-person potential of IP messaging. Chatbot platforms harness artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic human interactions that give consumers access to service providers and brands at their convenience. Industry forecasts indicate that customer interest is moving away from apps for interacting with a host of companies and service providers, towards a simpler more intuitive chat-based experience. In future customers will deal with banks, airlines, railways, utility providers, restaurants, taxis and many other businesses through one native advanced messaging application.

“This is an opportunity for operators to deliver an enhanced IP-based messaging service that puts subscribers in control. Through partnerships and industry collaboration, operators can play a central role in delivering a unified, consistent and engaging user experience that can be scaled to create a global community,” said Alex Sinclair, Chief Technology Officer, GSMA. “Adoption of the GSMA’s Universal Profile for Advanced Messaging is crucial as it underpins MaaP services and provides the industry with the foundations to create a dynamic and flexible service.”

Enhanced Consumer Experiences

MaaP enables communications services between third-party businesses such as applications, content and service providers and consumers. MaaP also helps enterprises by providing an interactive way of connecting directly with customers on their devices, offering a similar experience to conversing with a human agent or employee from a service-based organisation. Operator messaging is particularly well placed to play a role in MaaP as operators have a pre-existing relationship with customers based on secure identity and billing information.

The GSMA Universal Profile for Advanced Messaging

The report also highlights the key role of the GSMA’s Universal Profile (UP) for operators in delivering a consistent MaaP platform. However, a starting point for many telecom enterprise customers is to consider migrating traffic from pre-existing SMS Application–to-Person (A2P) services towards enriched RCS based messaging. This will help establish the foundations for an advanced and flexible MaaP ecosystem. MaaP will be a key component of the next Universal Profile release which will be issued in spring 2017 and will provide an opportunity for operators to create an engaging user experience in collaboration with industry partners. The Universal Profile is currently backed by 76 global operators, OEMs and OS providers. It upgrades existing operator messaging services and provides users with a common, consistent and globally interoperable service that includes features such as group chat, hi-res photo sharing and read receipts.

To download ‘Messaging as a Platform – The Operator Opportunity, please go to: http://www.gsma.com/network2020/digest/messaging-platform-operator-opportunity/. The GSMA has also created a whitepaper for MaaP that is available to GSMA members.

Network 2020 Programme at Mobile World Congress 2017

The GSMA’s Network 2020 Programme will showcase its work on the Universal Profile for Advanced Messaging at this year’s Mobile World Congress, which is being held from 27 February through 2 March in Barcelona. There will be a number of interactive demonstrations at the GSMA Innovation City exhibition space in Hall 4, as well as a comprehensive seminar programme covering 5G and Messaging as a Platform for commerce, chatbots and more. For further information please go to: http://www.gsma.com/network2020/events-and-webinars/mobile-world-congress-2017/.

Get Involved at Mobile World Congress 2017

For more information on Mobile World Congress 2017, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com. Follow developments and updates on Mobile World Congress on Twitter @GSMA using #MWC17, on our LinkedIn Mobile World Congress page https://www.linkedin.com/company/gsma-mobile-world-congress or on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/mobileworldcongress/. For additional information on GSMA social channels, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/about/contact/social-media/.

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About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with almost 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Mobile World Congress Americas and the Mobile 360 Series of conferences.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.

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