RCS messaging is exploding in the U.S, and one carrier is way ahead of the rest
A massive surge in rich text messages reveals which network is quietly shaping the future of texting in the US.
RCS messaging is on the rise in the United States, and T-Mobile appears to be leading the charge. Earlier this week, Google confirmed that Americans now send over one billion RCS messages every day. But a new report claims that more than half of that volume comes from T-Mobile customers alone.
In a statement, T-Mobile revealed that its customers are responsible for sending an average of 613 million RCS messages per day in 2025. That figure includes messages from T-Mobile-owned MVNOs like Metro, as well as partner brands such as Mint Mobile and Google Fi.
That’s a sharp increase from just a few years ago. Back in 2020, T-Mobile and its MVNOs sent around 224.5 million RCS messages per day. In other words, daily RCS traffic on the network has nearly tripled in the past five years. While the company did note that MVNOs account for only a small portion of this activity, the numbers clearly establish T-Mobile as the biggest contributor to the RCS ecosystem in the US.
RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is designed to replace traditional SMS with a more capable and modern standard. It supports read receipts, typing indicators, higher quality image and video sharing, and the ability to message over Wi-Fi or mobile data. Over the past year, the format has gained even more traction thanks to Apple’s long-awaited decision to support RCS in its Messages application, finally bringing compatibility to text conversations between iOS and Android users.
In a statement, T-Mobile revealed that its customers are responsible for sending an average of 613 million RCS messages per day in 2025. That figure includes messages from T-Mobile-owned MVNOs like Metro, as well as partner brands such as Mint Mobile and Google Fi.
RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is designed to replace traditional SMS with a more capable and modern standard. It supports read receipts, typing indicators, higher quality image and video sharing, and the ability to message over Wi-Fi or mobile data. Over the past year, the format has gained even more traction thanks to Apple’s long-awaited decision to support RCS in its Messages application, finally bringing compatibility to text conversations between iOS and Android users.
This was made possible by Apple adopting the industry-standard RCS Universal Profile 2.4. However, Apple is reportedly updating this soon by supporting RCS Universal Profile 3.0 in a future software update, which will bring end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to RCS messages, thus making communication more secure.
Google has also played a key role in pushing the format forward, particularly through its "Get The Message" campaign, which called out the limitations of SMS and urged Apple to adopt RCS. With over 1 billion RCS messages now being sent every day in the US, it seems those efforts are starting to pay off.
As adoption continues to grow and more carriers, OEMs, and platforms integrate RCS, it’s clear that the messaging standard is becoming the new normal. And for now, T-Mobile is firmly at the center of that shift.
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