Safaricom has begun urging Kenyan users to disable Rich Communication Services (RCS) on their phones, effectively signaling the unlikelihood of its return and cementing suspicions about the service's future in the country since its functional absence in August.

• Safaricom is advising users to turn off RCS to resolve issues with delayed or undelivered messages, despite Google's previous insistence that RCS availability varies by region and carrier.
• The move suggests that Safaricom and other carriers are unlikely to implement their own RCS infrastructure, especially if Google’s Jibe backend service has been pulled back.
• Safaricom Ethiopia’s latest financial statement for the year ending March 2025 showed messaging revenue of KES 82.0 million, growing a massive 93.9% year-on-year, highlighting the significant financial incentive to maintain profitable SMS revenue streams.