Much of 2024 didn't hold much for the prospects of 5G APIs
That started to change in Q3 as Nokia and Ericsson and some operators stepped up
Analysts expect to see security and anti-fraud APIs arrive in 2025
Through much of 2023 and all of 2024, Fierce has wondered about the future prospects for 5G application programming interfaces (APIs), so we asked a couple of analysts what 2025 might hold in store for the telecom software.
In essence, APIs are channels between programs that allow them to ‘talk’ to each other, and 5G was designed with this kind of internetworking in mind. The 5G core uses APIs to enable various billing and traffic management tasks, while network slicing and multi-access edge computing (MEC) both utilize this API technology.
Nordic telecom rivals Ericsson have been tussling for dominance — such as it is! — in the 5G API space in 2024. neXt Curve executive analyst Leonard Lee had previously told us that Ericsson was ahead of Nokia in signing up operator partners. And this was even before Ericsson formed its - as yet unnamed - 5G API venture with top global operators, which include AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon in the U.S., as well as América Móvil, Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Reliance Jio, Singtel, Telefonica, Telstra and Vodafone.
So, the pieces are starting to fall into place for more operator movement on APIs in 2025. So, will we see it in happen in 2025?
“I think 2025 will be like 2024 when it comes to network APIs. I think the focus will continue to be on building up the ecosystem,” Recon Analytics analyst Daryl Schoolar stated in an email to Fierce. “This includes getting operator and application developer commitments along with creating commercial frameworks,” he said.
The analyst thinks it is important in 2025 for the market to see “not just individual operator announcements but all the leading operators within a country coming together and saying they will jointly support the same network APIs and applications.” He noted that this has already happened in Brazil.
“I think there will be a gradual uptake and end market interest in network-based capabilities, both informational and connectivity related in 2025,” At the moment, awareness and appreciation of network capabilities and what can be exposed and interfaced with by developer through APIs is largely lacking. There are ongoing campaigns by initiated by a few pioneering operators to create ‘network API’ marketplaces or dev hubs on top of their networks. T-Mobile’s DevEdge is a great example,” Lee added.
Analysts agree on fraud prevention APIs as a good start
These APIs are largely not 5G-dependant, Lee noted. “They are largely G-agnostic as specified by Project CAMARA,” Lee said. “It’s good to see both Ericsson, Nokia, and a host of other players working with operators to up their ability to expose their networks through CAMARA-compliant interfaces. I think that the bulk of efforts and benefits will be realized in this foundational step.”
The joint venture announced by Ericsson and its 12 operator members is a play that seeks to establish an network capabilities exchange, Lee suggested. “These ‘capabilities’ will be initially informational with the expectation that connectivity and edge service and resource orchestration related features will follow. Frankly, fraud prevention is a good start,” he elucidated.
“For actual network API applications I think it will continue to mainly be security/fraud prevention applications in 2025,” agreed Recon’s Schoolar.