• Three years after launch, the GSMA says its Open Gateway has seen huge take up
• The network API initiative has found success in anti-fraud solutions and payments
• Mixed with AI, APIs will play a key role in future programmable networks, according to the GSMA’s head of networks, Henry Calvert

Three years after the launch of the GSMA’s Open Gateway, the API initiative is moving from one of ambition and growth to a project focused on delivering monetisation opportunities for network operators.

Today, 86 operator groups, representing more than 300 networks and 80% of global mobile connections, have signed up to a common API framework. Alongside them, more than 60 channel partners – spanning hyperscalers, aggregators and communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) providers – are commercialising network APIs at scale, according to the GSMA.

Initially, Open Gateway went live at MWC23 with just eight Camara APIs, but now the GSMA reports more than 300 instances of 20 different Camara APIs commercially launched in 65 markets around the world.

Speaking with TelecomTV during the recent MWC26 show in Barcelona, the GSMA’s head of networks, Henry Calvert, said: “Open Gateway still has good momentum. Very good momentum. I can’t believe we had an MoU [memorandum of understanding] that we started back in 2023… we’ve got over 80% of mobile connections. They’re live… they’re being used. And we’ve been seeing very impressive growth, well over 130% growth in the revenues,” he stated, though quite what those revenues amount to is not public knowledge.

Initial success has been driven by the adoption of APIs in three key areas: Fraud prevention, quality on demand (QoD), and mobility and location. In terms of fraud prevention, multi-operator launches in dozens of countries around the world are enabling banks and retailers to verify identity, detect SIM swap fraud, and secure transactions in real time.

Quality-on-demand (QoD) APIs, meanwhile, enable applications to request enhanced network performance for online payments, streaming, gaming, autonomous vehicles, drone safety and other mission-critical operations.

And APIs that enable edge discovery, geofencing and device intelligence are helping developers to produce apps that can adapt in real time based on where a device is and how it is performing.

Much of the initial successes have been anti-fraud use cases and payments, but Calvert said this is now expanding into other spaces. “When I look at the demand side, outside of the fintech industry, we see that automotive and aviation are really asking for the connection and the ability of the connection. Anti-fraud is the data, business, identity and everything that we’re doing now, but we’re trying to get into the connectivity business, which will make a lot more sense and create a lot more value for operators.”

AI and APIs

With AI top of the agenda at MWC26, the GSMA is also seeing it impact its API projects, as operators and vendors explore how agentic AI-based systems can automate the way network APIs are discovered, selected and combined. In Barcelona, the likes of Mplify and Colt, Orange and Google Cloud, as well as Nokia and AWS with Orange and du respectively, all showed off API/AI demos.

Telefónica and Nokia, for example, launched pilots showing how agent-to-agent (A2A) protocols and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) can orchestrate tasks across AI agents, enabling automatic API discovery, intelligent selection of network capabilities, chaining of multiple APIs, secure entitlement checking and goal-driven workflows without manual intervention.

“Agentic AI turns static APIs into dynamic, self-optimising building blocks, letting enterprises integrate telco capabilities into their systems with minimal effort,” explained Calvert.

This combination of AI and APIs is vital on the route to programmable networks, he added, noting that the goal is to make connectivity itself more adaptable and responsive to enterprise needs. “It’s having all the context about that connection and that service… that is more programmable for the end user,” he said.

As Calvert explained, this is less about exposing individual APIs and more about enabling enterprises to shape how networks behave. “No one API is going to make the difference… you have to get a number of APIs together,” he explained, pointing to a model where capabilities such as identity, location and network performance are combined depending on the use case.

Programmability is driven by context. Rather than simply providing access to network functions, operators are exposing the data and controls needed to adapt services on demand. “It’s having all the context about that connection and that service… that is more programmable for the end user,” said Calvert.

This marks a shift from static connectivity to something closer to the cloud model, where infrastructure can be configured in real time. As Calvert noted, enterprises are already accustomed to programmable compute and storage – and are beginning to expect the same from connectivity.

For operators, this evolution is closely tied to monetisation. “We’re trying to get into the connectivity business… because fundamentally, that’s what you’re asking for in the value of that connection,” he said. “For enterprises, it’s fulfilling something instantaneously, rather than putting in a purchase order and waiting six months.”

Calvert noted that “the value is incremental to the operator as well,” highlighting how APIs could help move the telecom sector towards a more cloud-like, usage-based model.

- James Pearce, Editor, TelecomTV