Ahead of 5G Rollout, MTN Partners Google, Dotgo on Messaging Services

Emma Okonji

MTN has disclosed that it has finalised arrangements to launch its RCS Business Messaging (RBM) Services in partnership with Google and Dotgo.

This was disclosed in a statement yesterday.

Available on 3G and 4G networks, RCS is the default messaging standard for 5G networks.

As of today, RCS is available globally with over 700 million monthly active users.

Google is a global technology solution provider, while Dotgo is a gupshup company and a leading cloud communications provider of RBM solutions.

RBM uses the rich and interactive features of Rich Communication Services (RCS)—the next generation SMS that allows sharing of audio, video, images, location, and a lot more—to enable branded business messaging. RCS messages are securely delivered to native messaging apps such as Google Messages and Samsung Messages on Android phones.

Dotgo’s MaaP (Messaging-as-a-Platform) is integrated with the Google Jibe RCS platform for business messaging, the world’s most advanced RCS platform that provides a high degree of scalability.

As a partner, the statement revealed that MTN would leverage the services provided by Dotgo such as the RCS APIs, chatbot directory, billing, payments, reconciliation, and more, to drive monetisation from RCS.

Giving details of the partnership, which is part of the preparation for its 5G rollout, the Chief Enterprise Business Officer at MTN Nigeria, Lynda Saint-Nwafor, was quoted to have said: “As Nigeria’s largest carrier, MTN is all set to onboard brands that can reach out to a vast majority of Nigerian customers and delight them with a user experience like never before, to boost lead generation and conversion rates.

“This is a great opportunity for brands to connect with the end consumers of Nigeria for sales and support.”

Also, the Chief Digital Officer of MTN Nigeria, Srinivas Rao, said: “We are proud of our technical collaboration with Google and Dotgo. The superior technology design, robust service operations, optimum business processes, and 24×7 support are key to delivering the Next Generation Business Messaging experiences to our brands and business partners at the most affordable rates. With this generational shift we aim to further aid and accelerate digital transformation among the institutions, commerce and industry in Nigeria”.

Pleased with the partnership, the Country Director, Google Nigeria, Juliet Ehimuan, said: “We are delighted to work with MTN to help bring RBM to their customers. With the highest number of subscribers in the region, RBM services on MTN will be a game changer. Dotgo has excelled once again as one of our top partners for monetising RBM with mobile operators.”

Also, the CEO of Dotgo, Inderpal Singh Mumick, said: “The launch of RBM by MTN, the largest operator in Nigeria, will accelerate adoption of RBM by brands in Nigeria. With the launch done, we will be working with MTN and Google to help CPaaS providers and brands in Nigeria to upgrade and incorporate RBM into their business applications.”