Global Telecom Leaders has teamed up to redefine the industry with network APIs.
Takeaway Points
- Global Telecom Leaders has teamed up to redefine the industry with network APIs.
- The newly formed company will provide network APIs to a broad ecosystem of developer platforms, including hyperscalers (HCPs) and Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) providers.
- The transaction is expected to close early in 2025.
Ericsson, in a press-release on Thursday, said that some of the world’s largest telecom operators, including América Móvil, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Reliance Jio, Singtel, Telefonica, Telstra, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Vodafone, together with Ericsson, have announced a new venture to combine and sell network Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) on a global scale to spur innovation in digital services. Network APIs are the way to easily access, use, and pay for network capabilities. The venture will drive implementation and access to common APIs from multiple telecom service providers to a broader ecosystem of developer platforms.
Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson, said, “Today is a defining moment for the industry and milestone in our strategy to open up the network for increased monetization opportunities. A global platform built on Ericsson’s deep technical capabilities and with a comprehensive ecosystem, that provides millions of developers with a single connection, will enable the telecom industry to invest deeper into the network API opportunity, driving growth and innovation for everyone.”
Ericsson said that the newly formed company will provide network APIs to a broad ecosystem of developer platforms, including hyperscalers (HCPs), Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) providers, System Integrators (SIs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), based on existing industry-wide CAMARA APIs (the open-source project driven by the GSMA and the Linux Foundation). Vonage and Google Cloud will partner with the new company, providing access to their ecosystems of millions of developers as well as their partners.
The transaction is expected to close early 2025, and upon closing, Ericsson will hold 50 percent of the equity in the venture while the telecom providers will hold 50 percent in total, the company said.
Quotes from the partners
Daniel Hajj, Chief Executive Officer, AMX: “We are very excited to join Ericsson and other key players in our industry in this innovative global platform initiative that will benefit the digital ecosystem as a whole. New API solutions will establish exciting value-added offerings to our customers on the top of our networks’ infrastructure.”
Jeremy Legg, Chief Technology Officer, AT&T: “At AT&T, we’ve been creating API tools to empower developers for well over a decade. Now, with a broad-based, interoperable API platform, we’re giving innovators a new global toolbox where the world’s best app developers can create exciting user experiences at scale. This high-performance mobile ecosystem will usher in a new era of greater possibility for customers and mobile users around the world.”
Mr. Yuen Kuan Moon, Group Chief Executive Officer, Singtel, said, “This unified platform and global eco-system will enable even more developers and businesses to leverage 5G quality networks to exploit API opportunities using GSMA’s open gateway principles. We look forward to helping even more enterprises and organizations in Asia to use network API solutions to drive growth and innovation through this timely collaboration.”
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud: ”We understand the power of an open platform and ecosystem in driving innovation. We are proud to participate in this important partnership in the telco industry to create value for our global customers via network APIs – and ultimately deliver on the promise of the public cloud.”
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Ericsson’s high-performing networks provide connectivity for billions of people every day. For nearly 150 years, we’ve been pioneers in creating technology for communication. We offer mobile communication and connectivity solutions for service providers and enterprises. Together with our customers and partners, we make the digital world of tomorrow a reality.
