Does anyone know if our telcos will ever support RCS on iOS?

Forums › New Zealand Mobile and Wireless › Does anyone know if our telcos will ever support RCS on iOS?

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MikeAqua

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#3504348 19-Jun-2026 08:58

Dochart:

Of course it would use mobile data/wifi but the telcos may make RCS come out of SMS rates/mobile plans with SMS which I hope they don’t do and make it only come out from mobile data/wifi only.

Don't most people have uncapped sms these days anyway?

Mike

Aucklandjafa

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#3504360 19-Jun-2026 09:31

MikeAqua:

Dochart:

Of course it would use mobile data/wifi but the telcos may make RCS come out of SMS rates/mobile plans with SMS which I hope they don’t do and make it only come out from mobile data/wifi only.

Don't most people have uncapped sms these days anyway?

Sure. But have you sent an MMS lately and seen the cost?

MaxineN

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#3504361 19-Jun-2026 09:39

alasta:

With RCS being IP based, would it be safe to assume that the infrastructure to support it would be cheaper than supporting SMS? If so, could this be the beginning of the process to finally kill off SMS?

No. Unfortunately.

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MikeAqua

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#3504364 19-Jun-2026 09:42

Aucklandjafa:

Sure. But have you sent an MMS lately and seen the cost?

I haven't. I use WhatsApp for sending media. Auto download of MMS is switched off. If I'm somewhere I don't have access to free Wifi ... I wait.

Mike

richms

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#3504367 19-Jun-2026 10:08

I got 1200 MMS included on my mighty mobile plan. I ended the year with 1200 left. Other people I know are constantly sending tiny blurry pictures over MMS. I have no idea why.

If RCS could be made to work when there is no data allocation available, it might have a chance. If you have to have an active data plan and its turned on, then its no better than any other app to message and will not help for the people that walk around with data off either because they are cheap or else think that its stopping them from being tracked by "the man"

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Dochart

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#3504896 20-Jun-2026 15:07

MikeAqua:

Dochart:

Of course it would use mobile data/wifi but the telcos may make RCS come out of SMS rates/mobile plans with SMS which I hope they don’t do and make it only come out from mobile data/wifi only.

Don't most people have uncapped sms these days anyway?

Most should but there are folks who don’t have a monthly plan and just rely on credit balance on their account. They may be the type of people who only top up every 3-6-9 months to a year.

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Aucklandjafa

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#3504899 20-Jun-2026 15:16

MikeAqua:

Aucklandjafa:

Sure. But have you sent an MMS lately and seen the cost?

I haven't. I use WhatsApp for sending media. Auto download of MMS is switched off. If I'm somewhere I don't have access to free Wifi ... I wait.

Noy everybody has WhatsApp, and sending photos/vidoes/texts through the native app (especially for iPhone/iMessage) is so much easier and fluid - would be great to have the same for the green bubble mates.

re turning off MMS downloads, not sure why you’d have this as it’s free to receive MMS’s - just costs to send ‘em

fe31nz

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#3504955 20-Jun-2026 23:33

Aucklandjafa:

re turning off MMS downloads, not sure why you’d have this as it’s free to receive MMS’s - just costs to send ‘em

Not quite right - you have to have mobile data on to receive MMSs - the data can not be sent via the Internet. So it does cost a little data, not to mention the annoyance of having to turn data on if you normally have it off like me.

Linux

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#3504958 21-Jun-2026 06:07

Data for receiving MMS / PXT should be zero rated unless you are roaming

Aucklandjafa

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#3504976 21-Jun-2026 08:49

fe31nz:

Aucklandjafa:

re turning off MMS downloads, not sure why you’d have this as it’s free to receive MMS’s - just costs to send ‘em

Not quite right - you have to have mobile data on to receive MMSs - the data can not be sent via the Internet. So it does cost a little data, not to mention the annoyance of having to turn data on if you normally have it off like me.

As mentioned, MMS is zero-rated, and even if it wasn’t, it’s only going to be a Mb with the restricted quality.

yitz

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#3504981 21-Jun-2026 09:28

Maybe he gets them sent to his email address lol

This is all part of the IMS suite isn't it, so no VoLTE no RCS on all those old Androids... (haven't come across a 4G phone that can't do SMS yet)

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Linux

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#3504982 21-Jun-2026 09:33

I forgot about MMS to email oh think of the high quality HD photo! NOT lol

MikeAqua

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#3505158 22-Jun-2026 10:05

Aucklandjafa:

re turning off MMS downloads, not sure why you’d have this as it’s free to receive MMS’s - just costs to send ‘em

So I don't use data on MMS downloads and I don't have bunch of low -res images downloaded to my phone.

Mike

Aucklandjafa

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#3505188 22-Jun-2026 11:37

MikeAqua:

Aucklandjafa:

re turning off MMS downloads, not sure why you’d have this as it’s free to receive MMS’s - just costs to send ‘em

So I don't use data on MMS downloads and I don't have bunch of low -res images downloaded to my phone.

Yeah, but, you don’t use data to download MMS’s - they’re zero-rated. And a MMS takes up near zero space one one’s phone.

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