MWC 2023: The GSMA has announced a framework of universal network application programmable interfaces (APIs) to provide universal access to operator networks for developers. At launch, at the annual MWC showcase in Barcelona, the so-called GSMA Open Gateway initiative has the support of 21 mobile network operators. The move is a “paradigm shift”, said GSMA, in the way the telecoms industry delivers services in an “API economy world”.
The project has already started to harmonise the industry around open APIs, it said; a number of demos at MWC have been developed on the new framework APIs. A separate joint-announcement from operators Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone flagged their with Ericsson, and Ericsson-owned Vonage, on a combined showcase at MWC to open up their networks to developers under the GSMA Open Gateway framework.
The trio called the demo, deployed on their live networks in Spain, an “industry milestone” to show how novel 5G network functionality can be exposed and “made consumable” for developers – to accelerate digital innovation, and fast-track telecoms revenues. Ericsson-Vonage has been engaged as an “aggregator” in the Spain project, which focuses on high-definition interactive video in mobile gaming and productivity applications.
The GSMA has launched eight open network APIs, including for SIM swaps, quality of service on demand (QoD), connected and roaming device status, number verification (including for SMS-based two factor authentication), edge site selection and routing, and carrier billing check-out and device location verification. None of these cellular network capabilities have been exposed in a unified and easy way to developers before.
Further APIs will be launched through 2023. All network APIs are documented in the CAMARA open source project, run by the Linux Foundation. The three-way operator showcase at MWC exposed network quality control, via a QoD API, to application developers from Blacknut, Zoom, and Vonage. A statement said they plan to use “the same QoD API” the GSMA has defined and documented in CAMARA for the GSMA Open Gateway initiative.
All three operators are developing their own roadmaps to incorporate common service APIs to be made available to developers. Other open-API demos at MWC include an immersive concert experience from Axiata, using APIs for device location, carrier billing, and authentication, and a live ‘jam session’ from the 5G Future Forum with musicians around the world, supported by the edge site selection API.
Initial signatories to the GSMA initiative are: America Movil, AT&T, Axiata, Bharti Airtel, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, e& Group, KDDI, KT, Liberty Global, MTN, Orange, Singtel, Swisscom, STC, Telefónica, Telenor, Telstra, TIM, Verizon and Vodafone. The telecoms industry will run early adopter programmes for developers over the next 12 months, and promote their open network APIs at major developer events, notably those hosted by Microsoft and AWS.
José María Álvarez-Pallete López, chairman of the board at GSMA and chairman and chief executive at Telefónica, said: “Telcos have come a long way in developing a global platform to connect everyone and everything. And now, by federating open network APIs and applying the roaming concept of interoperability, mobile operators and cloud services will be truly integrated to enable a new world of opportunity. Collaboration amongst telecom operators and cloud providers is crucial in this new digital ecosystem.”
Mats Granryd, director general of GSMA, said: “By applying the concept of interconnection for operators to the API economy developers can utilise technology once, for services such as identity, cybersecurity or billing, but with the potential to be integrated with every operator worldwide. This is a profound change in the way we design and deliver services. In 1987, representatives from 13 countries worked together to harmonise mobile voice services and enable roaming; 35 years on, GSMA Open Gateway has the potential to deliver a similar impact for digital services.”
Ishwar Parulkar, chief technologist for the telco industry at AWS, said: “GSMA Open Gateway is a significant step in enriching the cloud developer experience. Developers using AWS’s more than 200 services will also be able to leverage APIs from telco operators. This allows the developer community to create new applications, and for telcos to open up new models of consumption and monetisation for their networks”
Erik Ekudden, chief technology officer and senior vice president at Ericsson, said: “The QoD API we are demonstrating at MWC – live on the networks of Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone – shows how GSMA Open Gateway APIs are highly scalable across operators and with different app developers. This places 5G as an innovation platform at the heart of digital transformation.”
Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive at Microsoft, said: “At Microsoft, we are focused on extending a distributed computing fabric from the cloud to the edge, together with our operator partners. We look forward to bringing the GSMA Open Gateway initiative to Microsoft Azure, to empower developers and help operators monetise the value of their 5G investments.”
