GSMA Open Gateway makes progress in unlocking mobile networks, benefits safe drone flight

International communications agency GSMA has outlined progress the mobile industry, and technology partners, are making in unlocking the full potential of 5G networks and commercialising network APIs through the GSMA Open Gateway initiative.

According to GSMA:

A year since GSMA Open Gateway was unveiled at MWC 2023, 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.”

Focus for 2024

According to research by McKinsey, GSMA Open Gateway and other network API initiatives can unlock significant value for the telecommunications industry, and businesses using 5G networks over the next six years. It’s forecast that, if operators can expose more of their network APIs and innovations to enterprise developer and cloud provider communities, then they can unlock an additional $300bn market opportunity by 2030.

Having built strong support amongst the global mobile operator industry in 2023, the GSMA Open Gateway initiative is focusing on how it can help members ramp up developer engagement in 2024. This will be achieved through the commercial launch of new services and a focus on three go-to-market commercial channels for open API adoption.

GSMA Open Gateway’s three main go-to-market channels are:

1. Network Cloud Marketplaceg. partnering with cloud providers including AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Vonage
2. Strategic Technology Partners/Resellersg. Infobip, Nokia, and Ericsson
3. Operators Direct to Market through their enterprise and innovation divisions.

The industry is now turning its attention to a whole array of new services and innovations, including Quality-on-Demand APIs to enable safe drone flight, robotics, extended reality and immersive online gaming services over 5G networks. The roadmap includes further development in connectivity for network slicing, cybersecurity and cloud enablement.

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.

The GSMA Open Gateway initiative will be available to see at MWC Barcelona 2024, taking place from 26-29 February 2024.