One year after it was unveiled at MWC 2023, the GSMA’s Open Gateway Initiative has now been adopted by over 40 mobile operator networks, unlocking the potential of 5G networks and commercialising network APIs through the GSMA Open Gateway initiative.
GSMA Open Gateway APIs are defined, developed, and published in CAMARA, the open-source project for developers to access enhanced network capabilities, driven by the Linux Foundation, in partnership with TM Forum.
A total of 47 mobile operator groups, representing 239 mobile networks and 65% of connections around the world, have now signed up to the initiative. GSMA Open Gateway is focused on accelerating the growth of digital services and apps, by ensuring they integrate seamlessly with hundreds of participating networks around the world. This is done through single, programmable, access points, which are common among all mobile operators, known as Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs).
Working with technology partners and cloud providers, including AWS, Infobip, Microsoft, Nokia and Vonage, a part of Ericsson, more than 40 mobile operator networks have now made a combined total of 94 APIs commercially available to enterprise developers in 21 markets across Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.
With online fraud and cybercrime being one of the biggest issues facing online commerce, the GSMA, mobile operators and technology partners are first focusing the GSMA Open Gateway initiative on tackling online crime. Recent activities include:
- Four Sri Lankan operators who have launched three APIs on a single operator platform providing robust authentication to secure customer online transactions;
- Three Brazilian operators who have launched three APIs to combat fraud;
- Three Spanish operators who have announced the launch of two anti-fraud APIs, working with online retailers;
- Four Indonesian operators who launched three APIs to improve online security and customer experience; and
- Three South African operators who are combatting fraud and digital identity theft in sectors including banking, finance, insurance, and retail through two new APIs.
- Three German operators who have today made two APIs available to help app developers and enterprises tackle online fraud and protect the digital identities of mobile customers.
“It’s been an exciting year for GSMA Open Gateway, and the mobile industry, where we have begun to build a unified ecosystem and unlock the full potential of 5G networks. This has culminated in the birth of a new API era,” said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA . “Our collective job for 2024 is to nurture and grow this opportunity and provide ubiquitous access to enterprise developers and cloud providers, so they can do what they do best, which is launch game changing new services that can maximise the benefits of 5G networks.”
Ishwar Parulkar, Chief Technologist for Telecom and Edge Cloud at Amazon Web Services at AWS , said: “The progress of GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative over the past year had been very encouraging. As we get into the next phase of telcos productizing more APIs and monetizing them through various go-to-market channels, the role of a common, aligned approach across operators, hyperscalers and other channel aggregators that Open Gateway is promoting becomes even more critical.”
Ankur Jain, Vice President, Google Cloud Telco , said: “Google Cloud has engaged with the GSMA Open Gateway initiative since its inception, and we are pleased to see progress towards giving developers simplified access to network capabilities in an open, standardized, and aggregated way. We look forward to working with our CSP partners and developers to bring innovative use cases to market.”
Ross Ortega, Vice President, Product Management, Microsoft Azure for Operators , said: “Microsoft proudly champions the Open Gateway initiative, underscoring our commitment to making network programmability universally accessible to developers of connected applications. We believe that the standardization of network capabilities and APIs is crucial for ensuring that developers can easily understand and adopt these technologies. Azure Programmable Connectivity is at the forefront of this effort, aligning closely with Open Gateway standards to pave the way for seamless integration and innovation.”
