By 2017, Rich Communication Suite (RCS) mobile messages – a standard which can enhance IM with images, media, and file transfers – will generate 83bn messages per annum, according to a report by Juniper Research.

This will still be less than one per cent of total messaging traffic, however, with total mobile messaging traffic increasing to 28.2 trillion per annum. Thats nearly double the amount today, and SMS, IM, email, and social messaging will continue to make up the majority of messages sent.

The most promising RCS effort so far has been from joyn, with operators across the world committing to joyn-branded services, but its still far from an established system. However, as the report points out, it took 30 years for SMS to establish its position as king of the mobile messaging world. Even in 2017, joyn will only be five years into its lifespan – and in developing countries, feature phones will likely still be the norm.

“While nine of the 10 handset manufacturers are pre-installing the joyn app on smartphones, more work needs to be done to get chat services onto featurephones,” said report co-author Windsor Holden.