Some of the world’s largest telecom operators, including América Móvil, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Reliance Jio, Singtel, Telefonica, Telstra, T-Mobile, Verizon and Vodafone, together with Ericsson have on Friday announced a new venture to combine and sell network Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) on a global scale to spur innovation in digital services.
Singtel said in a statement that network APIs are the way to easily access, use and pay for network capabilities, and the venture will drive implementation and access to common APIs from multiple telecom service providers to a broader ecosystem of developer platforms.
It is noted that modern mobile networks have advanced and intelligent capabilities – like authentication and performance – which have historically been inaccessible to developers.
Additionally, it has been impractical for developers to integrate the different capabilities of hundreds of individual telecom operators.
The newly formed company will combine network APIs globally, with a vision that new applications will work anywhere and on any network, making it easier and quicker for developers to innovate.
According to the statement, easily accessible advanced network capabilities will open up the next frontier in app development and empower developers to create new use cases across many sectors.
These could include anti-fraud verification for financial transactions and the ability to check device status so streaming providers can dynamically adjust video quality.
The newly formed company will provide network APIs to a broad ecosystem of developer platforms, including hyperscalers (HCPs), Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) providers, System Integrators (SIs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), based on existing industry-wide CAMARA APIs (the open-source project driven by the GSMA and the Linux Foundation).
Vonage and Google Cloud will partner with the new company, providing access to their ecosystems of millions of developers as well as their partners.
The new venture shareholders will bring funding and important assets, including Ericsson’s platform and network expertise, global telecom operator relationships, knowledge of the developer community and each telecom operator’s network APIs, expertise and marketing.
It is noted that additional telecom operators are encouraged to join the new company, further driving the industry and developer experience, and allowing all participants to tap into a significant new revenue opportunity.
Telecom operator Three Sweden (Hi3G Access) is already in negotiation to become a commercial partner of the new company.
The venture will provide implementation in several leading regions globally.
This global reach will provide access to network opportunities for millions of developers.
Closing of the transaction is expected early 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
Upon closing, Ericsson will hold 50 percent of the equity in the venture while the telecom providers will hold 50 percent in total.
Built on a deep understanding of developer and enterprise needs and in keeping with the industry-body GSMA Open Gateway principles, the new venture’s platform and partner ecosystem will remain open and non-discriminatory to maximize value creation across the industry.
“This unified platform and global eco-system will enable even more developers and businesses to leverage 5G quality networks to exploit API opportunities using GSMA’s open gateway principles,
“We look forward to helping even more enterprises and organizations in Asia to use network API solutions to drive growth and innovation through this timely collaboration,” said Yuen Kuan Moon, Group Chief Executive Officer, Singtel.
Börje Ekholm, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ericsson, said a global platform built on Ericsson’s deep technical capabilities and with a comprehensive ecosystem, that provides millions of developers with a single connection, will enable the telecom industry to invest deeper into the network API opportunity, driving growth and innovation for everyone.