Businesses and consumers are increasingly demanding seamless, on-demand access to services and products. The rise of hyperscalers has driven a fundamental shift in connectivity services, pushing industries to adopt more automated approaches to service delivery, powered by APIs. By leveraging APIs, network-as-a-aervice (NaaS) providers can create on-demand supply chains with their off-net connectivity wholesale suppliers. As demand for instant, reliable connectivity services that span multiple provider networks grow, APIs both enable wholesale suppliers to “plug into” these dynamic NaaS supply chains and enable business customers of NaaS services striving to stay competitive and meet consumer expectations.
What are standardized APIs and how do they work?
An API is a set of rules and protocols that allows different software systems to communicate with one another. Essentially, it’s a bridge enabling two systems to exchange data or trigger actions. As part of MEF’s Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO),standardized APIs allow businesses to integrate their systems with external platforms and services in a scalable way. Without standardized APIs, businesses would need to create custom integrations for every partner, which is inefficient and costly. Standardized APIs enable faster, more robust and more secure communication between systems.
Why are standardized APIs important for NaaS supply chains?
NaaS has become crucial for delivering network services on-demand and enabling businesses to access network resources like bandwidth and security through subscription-based models, offering flexibility and scalability to meet changing demands. Standardized APIs are essential to the NaaS model because they enable automation and interoperability between large numbers of different entities within the supply chain. With standardized APIs, companies can quickly "plug themselves into" supply chains, facilitating the seamless exchange of data and services.
Additionally, the rise of AI, real-time analytics, and immersive technologies (like virtual and augmented reality) has intensified the need for adaptive, dynamic network performance. Companies providing services such as AI-powered applications require networks that automatically adjust to real-time demands. Standardized APIs in NaaS supply chains are pivotal in enabling this, allowing networks to allocate resources dynamically for optimal performance.
NaaS APIs in action
MEF recently announced the addition of Network APIs as part of its NaaS strategy and demonstrated together with Orange and Colt the concept at Mobile World Congress 2025. Network APIs allow applications to adjust network performance in real-time, meeting the demands of edge-native applications such as autonomous vehicles and AI-driven analytics. These capabilities were showcased in a live "Quality on Demand" (QoD) demo, featuring Colt and Orange, and powered by CAMARA APIs and a new MEF QoD schema, illustrating how standardized APIs enable applications to seamlessly interact with both mobile and fixed-line networks.
Working with GSMA, CAMARA, and its members, MEF is fostering an AI-driven economy where network resources are intelligently allocated on demand. By leveraging CAMARA APIs and MEF’s standards, businesses and application developers can dynamically provision network resources, improving performance for industries such as tele-robotics, and AI applications.
Who benefits from standardized APIs in NaaS supply chains?
The integration of standardized APIs into NaaS supply chains benefits businesses and service providers:
Businesses: Standardized APIs allow businesses to scale their operations quickly and efficiently without manual configuration. Standardized APIs enable buyers and sellers of products to automate different stages of the business lifecycle — including product availability and pricing discovery, quoting, ordering, billing & settlement, and trouble ticketing — between their companies.
Service Providers: Standardized APIs enable service providers to offer more flexible, scalable solutions to a wide range of businesses. By using standardized APIs, providers can automate operations, improve the user experience by speeding up information flow between buyers and sellers as well as the provisioning of a service, by minimizing or even eliminating manual intervention.
Why standardized APIs are the future in the digital economy
As industries continue to seek automated, adaptable network services, APIs will remain a central driver of change within NaaS and cloud-based services. The ability to rapidly integrate new technologies and services will be crucial for businesses looking to stay competitive. While APIs solve the problem of automation of information flow between the respective systems of buyers and sellers in the NaaS supply chain, standardized APIs take this one step further and enable scalability and the resulting increased cost effectiveness of using APIs. By adopting MEF’s open and standardized APIs, companies can position themselves for future success in an increasingly interconnected world.
APIs are far more than just technical tools—they are critical enablers of business flexibility, interoperability, and automation. As industries shift toward more dynamic, AI-driven offerings like NaaS, APIs will be instrumental in ensuring seamless interaction between businesses, consumers, developers, IoT and service providers. By embracing these powerful tools, businesses can prepare for the future, driving innovation and efficiency in the digital economy.
As MEF’s Chief Product Officer, Daniel Bar Lev is responsible for the development and implementation of a range of strategic MEF programs that are central to MEF’s transformation to an agile-process oriented standards development organization defining, implementing and certifying MEF 3.0 services. These innovative programs enable MEF’s 200+ member companies to accelerate the transformation of their networks and operations to offer and deliver MEF 3.0 services. In addition, Daniel is responsible for MEF membership in the EMEA region, developing relationships and facilitating engagement of member companies in every aspect of MEF activities.
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