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GSMA launched the Open Gateway API program at MWC last year, but commercial activity remains low
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Nokia expects the NaC platform to simplify API usage for developers and CSPs.
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Claro, TIM and Vivo use GSMA APIs to help detect bank fraud
Open 5G application programming interfaces (APIs) were the center of attention at last year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) show. But all that fanfare leaves us wondering, almost a year later, where things stand.
The GSMA launched its Open Gateway API program at the show, with around 21 network operators including AT&T, China Mobile and Deutsche Telekom supporting the idea. This group published a standardized API under the Linux Foundation’s CAMARA open source project. More than 200 network operators have participated in the program to date.
However, so far we haven’t seen much movement on the open 5G API front.
“5G (and other) APIs are generating a lot of interest,” Appledore analyst Robert Curran said in an email to Silverlinings. “But it is fair to say that they have clearly not succeeded – yet – in solving the problem of ‘how do we make money from 5G networks?’”
That said, he added that things are still in the early stages.
“The question is which features of the 5G network that can be accessed via APIs are most valuable for solving business problems,” Curran said.
Curran commented that South American carriers Claro, TIM Brasil and Vivo are using 5G APIs to provide location verification capabilities that can help banks detect potential fraud. They started functioning at the end of November 2023.
Nokia hops on the API train
Nokia (NYSE:NOK) has also entered the open API market, developing a mechanism to manage and charge open gateway APIs with its Network as Code (NaC) platform, which was launched on September 26, 2023.
“Nokia NaC essentially provides carriers with a way to receive usage fees for their (5G) networks without having to build out all the charging and API management for Nokia NaC,” Curran commented. . “NaC is a software platform that a developer plugs into on one side and calls out to the carrier’s network underneath (via his API in conjunction with an open gateway).”
We might get more talk about open APIs, NaC, and broader 5G interfaces later this month in Barcelona. stay tuned!
