The developer community is a critical part of telco transformation because developers hold the key to solving 5G network monetization issues. Many telcos today have invested billions to build their 5G networks and are anxious to deploy new services and applications that will take advantage of the 5G network’s core capabilities and allow them to make more money.
Application programming interfaces (APIs) are critical to the creation of new applications and services because they allow third-party developers to run on, communicate and interact with 5G networks or any type of public or private infrastructure, including wireless, wired and even satellite.
Exposing network capabilities like location, identity verification and quality of service is invaluable to independent software vendors (ISVs) and systems integrators (SIs) for delivering tailored modern connected applications to their customers. But to make such APIs appealing to these third-party developers, operators must present them in such a way that they abstract the complexity of the underlying architectures and are common across all carrier infrastructures.
Opening the Door to Open APIs
Exposing network functionality to third parties isn’t an easy task. It requires the adoption of processes and procedural protocols to ensure that open APIs do not expose the network, mobile applications or subscribers to risks – such as, security vulnerabilities, data breaches or program errors that could subject infrastructure to outages.
To help telcos navigate this process, the GSMA formed Open Gateway, an industry initiative supported by nearly 40 operators globally, currently representing about 60% of all mobile subscribers.
Open Gateway is standardizing the commercial agreements between channel partners and operators and creating a template so that the terms and conditions are the same for developers. This is a critical step in ultimately making sure that developers can get access to standard APIs and then create applications that can be used across different networks around the world.
Open Gateway has already released several standardized APIs under CAMARA, an open-source project managed by the Linux Foundation in cooperation with the GSMA. While Open Gateway provides the framework for the business side of things, CAMARA is the technical collaboration where operators work together to define, develop and test the APIs and then publish the API requirements.
CAMARA’s primary goals are to:
- Simplify telco complexity by making APIs easy to consume for developers with no telco expertise
- Satisfy data privacy and regulatory requirements
- Facilitate application to network integration
Anti-Fraud APIs Gain Traction
Open Gateway APIs are gaining support from mobile operators. According to FierceWireless, APIs have been commercially launched on 11 networks worldwide and 19 CAMARA APIs have been published and are ready to use.
The anti-fraud category of APIs is particularly appealing in some regions of the world that experience a lot of fraud. Brazilian operators America Móvil-owned Claro, TIM Brasil and Telefónica’s Vivo recently launched services exposing three network APIs focused on combatting digital fraud for mobile commerce and financial institutions. The three APIs are:
- Number Verify. This API offers seamless verification of a user’s mobile number. Instead of sending a one-time password via SMS to a mobile number, Number Verify will automatically be able to verify a user’s identity.
- SIM Swap. This API can determine if a given phone number has recently changed SIM cards, which is an important capability for fighting takeover attacks. In a takeover attack, the fraudster takes control of the account owner’s SIM card using social engineering techniques and stolen personal data.
- Device Location. This capability helps organizations spot and prevent fake transactions by confirming whether a certain device is in a certain location. This API can provide instant validation of a location area provided by the mobile device owner and the approximate location area of the device on the operator’s network.
The Quality on Demand (QOD) API is also seeing some interest from operators. Analysts at S&P Global Market Intelligence wrote in March 2023 that operators are currently demonstrating proof of concept (POC) trials of the QOD API. This API was employed by distinct standalone 5G network slices to guarantee that individual quality of service levels are met – even in times of heavy network congestion.
The QoD API will be particularly useful to developers because it will enable them to build applications that require a certain level of service from the 5G network, such as gaming or live event streaming. To make such network functionality broadly appealing, however, operators will need to ensure such APIs are easy for these developers to employ and operate ubiquitously across carriers and around the globe.
Using APC to Support Network-Aware Applications
Microsoft is using its expertise in application development to help developers connect to these APIs and deliver the types of network-aware applications that consumers and enterprises want.
The company’s Azure Programmable Connectivity (APC) platform provides developers with the tools to write and deploy network-aware applications. “Microsoft’s success has always been grounded in our ability to create ecosystems for applications developers. This is complemented by our commitment to offering them best-in-class tools and experiences for application development,” said Ricardo Villarreal, product manager for APC within Microsoft’s Azure for Operators.
By nurturing this developer community, APC acts as a channel to telcos that want to reach more independent software vendors, particularly those familiar with the Azure portal and the features and services native to this hyperscale public cloud platform. APC is currently focused primarily on 5G public networks and is being used by operators such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Singtel, and Rogers. However, APC will eventually support other types of networks as well, including private networks, wired networks and satellite networks.
APC offers a unified abstraction layer so developers can access network APIs consistently across different operators and different networks. APC also allows operators to offer differentiated and standards-compliant APIs to Azure developers while at the same time ensuring that APC code will run on any supported network.
APC works with the GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative and with APIs that are standardized through the Linux Foundation’s CAMARA. In addition, Microsoft is working with API platform providers such as Ericsson’s Vonage Global Network platform and Nokia’s Network as Code platform.
APC features the following key capabilities:
- Unified abstraction, encompassing:
- Credential management, including authentication.
- Resource discovery of UEs, servers, client status, and network conditions, etc.
- Resource configuration, such as how client traffic is routed and the provisioning of network capabilities.
- Resource monitoring, like network conditions and changes in status
- Integration and translation, covering the adapters to each network and available APIs.
- Developer support, comprising a full Azure experience and simplified billing.
Early APC Developer Projects
APC is already being used by several developer teams to deliver state-of-the-art network-aware applications. For example, startup Halo.Car is using the APC platform to deliver remotely piloted rental cars to customers in Las Vegas. The Halo cars are driven remotely using LTE and 5G but when the network is congested, Halo needs to be guaranteed better quality of service so it can deliver its cars without any connectivity issues.
Another example is CloudHawk in Canada which uses 5G with location APIs to provide fleet management and asset-tracking services to businesses. Thanks to APC, the company is able to deliver precise real-time tracking indoors and in densely populated areas that is more accurate and more reliable than GPS.
Network-aware applications are a critical part of the 5G ecosystem and fundamental to exposing network capabilities to developers so that next-generation applications can be developed and delivered to consumers and enterprises. Using open APIs, Microsoft’s APC plays a key role in bringing together developers and operators so that network-aware applications that provide state-of-the-art experiences can quickly become reality.