RCS is available to 70% of French mobile subscribers currently and is expected to increase to 85% by the end of the year
Twilio announced that it is partnering Orange to scale the use of RCS Business Messaging across France. This partnership will provide French and international businesses with a “communications experience” directly in their messaging app.
RCS covers over 70% of the mobile base in France as of the beginning of June, which equates to reaching more than 45 million smartphones. This is projected to reach 85% by the end of the year. For the portion of the mobile base not yet covered by RCS, Twilio fallbacks to standard SMS.
According to Twilio’s 2025 State of Customer Engagement Report, three out of four businesses plan to invest in RCS messaging this year and 81% of consumers prefer RCS to traditional SMS.
Partner power
“This partnership will help to accelerate the deployment of RCS Business messaging in France… it is set to become the new standard for mobile messaging” said Amelia Newsom Davis, Director Payment, Messaging and Identity at Orange France.
“RCS Business Messaging offers improved security for brands, which creates a trusted relationship with customers while enhancing brand credibility. This in turn will lead to greater response rates and improved customer engagement” she claimed.
The RCS protocol is available across Android and iOS devices. It supports interactive exchanges (rather than one-way communication) with features like images, carousels, actionable buttons, and detailed performance tracking.
“RCS gives businesses a powerful way to deliver rich, branded conversations directly in the native messaging app, with verified sender identity. …This partnership will enable businesses to boost engagement, efficiency and trust, while offering a more dynamic experience that truly leaves an impression on customers,” said Tony Cheema, Vice President, EMEA, Communications at Twilio.
“In a landscape filled with plenty of competing digital noise, RCS represents an opportunity to stand out from the crowd,” he stated.
