Written by Steve Barefoot, senior product analyst at Interop Technologies.

MNOs are in the challenging – almost schizophrenic – position of needing to maintain a high Quality of Service (QoS ) network while concurrently finding ways to deliver agile products popularized not by QoS, but by overall Customer Experience (CX).

Knowing the answer to this question, or at least understanding why asking it is important, can help operators and key stakeholders in the mobile ecosystem better evaluate the future of this new technology.

When it comes to providing consumers with a fresh selection of smartphones, device manufacturers have not disappointed this year, and all signs indicate that 2014 will bring an even wider range of choices. Just last week, Wireless Week reported that Samsung is expected to maintain “its rapid fire device launch schedule” by introducing up to five smartphones early next year.

We're pleased to announce that Interop Technologies has been accredited by the GSMA as a Hosted RCS Solution Provider. This designation means that our RCS solution fully complies with RCS specification v1.2.2, which we demonstrated by passing a series of rigorous tests. 

Sprint revealed its response to the growing OTT threat this week by launching its new RCS-based application, Messaging Plus. The downloadable app, which will be pre-loaded on Android devices going forward, lets subscribers communicate through text, instant messaging, group messaging, and video chat.