DALLAS, Oct. 31, 2012 — Building on its foundation as the foremost innovator among 4GLTE wireless service providers, MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) today announced the world’s first commercial launch of Rich Communication Services (RCS) on a 4GLTE network. MetroPCS will offer its RCS services under the GSMA-licensed joyn brand. Based on the GSMA RCS 5.0 standard, joyn by MetroPCS will deliver an experience beyond voice and basic messaging to provide customers with a unified and intuitive way to use enriched services like integrated instant messaging or chat, WiFi and video calling and simplified content sharing.
Included in all 4GLTE rate plans and RCS-enabled smartphones, joyn by MetroPCS will bring everyday mobile-to-mobile communication to life. Today, mobile users have a fragmented experience requiring the use of multiple, separate applications and logins in order to use enriched services and share content. joyn offers a simple and personal way to connect with friends and family in real time, by showing how contacts can be reached and which multimedia capabilities in chat, content transfer or video share are available for each contact – all with just one click from the user’s address book.
“MetroPCS’ goal has been to innovate for the purpose of delivering an exceptional quality of experience to our customers and to consumers who demand value and the ability to do more with their mobile service,” said Roger Linquist, CEO and Chairman of MetroPCS. “As the first 4G LTE carrier in the world to offer RCS, we are excited to join the global community of operators implementing the RCS standard and we are proud of our team and partners who were critical in building this capability that will evolve and expand over the next year.”
joyn by MetroPCS Services at a Glance
MetroPCS will support the following RCS services at launch for customers with 4GLTE joyn-enabled smartphones:
Contacts Presence – joyn knows and shows how users can reach and share content with contacts at any time
- Contact availability/status sync (online, busy, away, unavailable)
- Calendar sync
- Social network interaction
Enriched Chat – Threaded conversations keep track of who’s said what and show which people and groups are available to chat and share content
- Instant messaging and group chat
- Conversational view
- Delivery of read notifications and composing indications
Content Sharing – Bring calls and chats to life by sharing content with just one click from the address book
- Share video, images and files while on a call and within instant messaging or chat
- Display service capabilities
- Geo-location
WiFi and Video Calling – Stay connected with voice and video calls in areas with little or no cellular coverage
- WiFi calling and video calls over WiFi
“We believe RCS is a tremendous differentiator among prepaid and postpaid competitors alike and recognize that achieving interoperability across U.S. 4G LTE networks is the next key step to paving the way for more innovative services and capabilities in the future,” added Linquist.
joyn by MetroPCS will be available beginning today on the Samsung Galaxy Attain™ 4G. Galaxy Attain 4G users can download the joyn application from both the @metro App Store™ and Google Play. MetroPCS plans to roll-out additional RCS-enabled 4GLTE smartphones and services later this year and throughout 2013, with native support for joyn services coming at a later date.
