The GSMA announced an industry-wide initiative called GSMA Open Gateway, a framework of universal network Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs), designed to provide universal access to operator networks for developers. “The exposure of advanced 5G functionality through common APIs will enable operators to drive 5G monetization, which will quicken the delivery of new services on a global scale with speed,” GSMA said.
The association said the effort, which is supported by 21 mobile network operators, will change how the telecom industry designs and delivers services. Some of the initial APIs include quality on demand, carrier billing, device status, number verification and location.
“It’s great to finally see the carrier industry move to open network APIs,” Lynnette Luna, S&P Global, Senior Research Analyst, US Mobile & Tower, told Inside Towers from the Mobile World Congress. “The notion of open APIs in the network has been pushed by just one or two carriers in the past, and these initiatives never gained traction because developers want scale.”
The GSMA Open Gateway initiative is multi-telco and multi-country, and it leverages players that already have well known developer ecosystems, according to Luna, which should help drive quick adoption.
Orange, Telefonica, and Vodafone, in collaboration with Ericsson and Vonage, demonstrated at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona how advanced mobile network functionality can be exposed and made consumable by the global developer community. The demonstration showed how the user experience can be enhanced in applications, such as real time mobile gaming and interactive high-density video, through the use of the quality of service on demand API by application developers at Blacknut, Zoom, and Vonage.
“Quality on Demand seems to be the most popular API because developers can now guarantee QoS for critical applications that use video and cloud gaming. OTTs can now offer new platforms that are more personalized,” Luna said.
Olivier Avaro, CEO of Blacknut, said, “Cloud gaming is the perfect showcase to demonstrate the potential of Open Network APIs. Standardized across operators, simple to use and predictable cost wise, they empower application developers to take control of the network QoS. With 600+ premium titles playable from the cloud, Blacknut does not only require a solid cloud streaming stack, we also need an efficient network with the right bandwidth, latency and jitter parameters. Open Network APIs give us the opportunity to control the end-to-end user experience and deliver a consistent, stable, and superior gaming experience, even on the go.”
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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