Twenty-one telecommunications operators from around the world, members of the GSMA association, have today launched a common technology framework to enable application developers to launch products with a potential market of 3.8 billion people.
The employers’ association, chaired by the president of Telefónica, José María Álvarez-Pallete, has presented the initiative at the inaugural session of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) that is being held in Barcelona. As explained by the executive, the technological integration of the networks, called Open Gateway, will allow operators to obtain additional income from their 5G networks. “We deserve a more balanced ecosystem,” said the president of Telefónica, since according to GSMA data, large content platforms generate 60% of network traffic, and keep most of the income generated by the Internet.
Until now, a developer is practically forced to design an application for Google and Apple, because it is the only way to have access to millions of potential customers, while if you do it for an operator, you would only have access to a local market, and you could lose the client as soon as he changes company. In return, the two groups that control the operating system of more than 95% of the world’s smartphones charge the developer around 30% of all the payments it receives, a “pie” that operators now want to participate in.
These, in addition, have invested 3.6 trillion euros in fixed infrastructures in the last ten years, recalled Álvarez-Pallete, and the investment rate must increase to ensure that the networks support the increase in data derived from the new digital technologies . The CEO of Orange, Christel Heydemann, stressed for her part that the exponential growth of traffic costs the operators 15,000 million euros, while there are five companies that account for 55% of what is generated on the network. “Is the entire industry contributing fairly to the fundamentals of our digital world? Because I think we are at a crossroads”, said the CEO, who has warned about the lack of sustainability after a decade of the current model for European telecommunications .
The operators that have initially joined Open Gateway are América Móvil, AT
Open Gateway initially launches with specifications for developing applications across eight services: SIM swapping (eSIM for easier operator switching); “quality on demand”; device status (so users know if they are connected to a domestic or roaming network); number verification; site selection and routing; number verification (SMS 2FA); billing or payment to the operator; and device location (when a service needs a verified location). GSMA announced that more APIs will be added this year.
The telecommunications association has explained that during the MWC you will be able to see numerous demonstrations of how the GSMA Open Gateway works and how “it has already begun to harmonize the sector around open APIs”. Among them, the GSMA mentions an immersive concert experience from Axiata that uses APIs for device discovery, billing, and authentication. Also an immersive game and high definition video showcase from Orange, Telefónica, Vodafone, Vonage and Ericsson based on the Quality on Demand (QoD) API.
“Collaboration between telecommunications operators and cloud providers is crucial in this new digital ecosystem,” said Álvarez-Pallete. Thus, the GSMA has reached agreements with Amazon and Microsoft, two of the largest players in the sector. Thus, AWS announced last week new products to work with operators to build and operate mobile networks and yesterday it was Microsoft who launched new own services for telecommunications companies.
GSMA CEO Mats Granryd said, “By applying the concept of carrier interconnection to the API economy, developers can use the technology once, for services such as identity, cybersecurity or billing, but with the potential to integrate with all operators in the world. This is a profound change in the way we design and deliver services.”
