• Autonomous networks hog the DTW Ignite headlines 
• TM Forum forges important API agreement with GSMA
• Aduna strikes partnership deals with Microsoft Azure, Japanese telcos

In today’s industry news roundup: Autonomous network measurement and an engagement for Google Cloud in Europe make the headlines at the TM Forum’s DTW Ignite event in Copenhagen; the forum and the GSMA deliver long-awaited alignment on Open Gateway conformance verification; network API joint venture Aduna brings Microsoft Azure on board as a cloud partner and forges partnerships with NTT Docomo and SoftBank; and much more!

The TM Forum’s annual DTW Ignite event kicked off on Tuesday with a slew of releases on familiar topics, such as Open Digital Architecture (ODA) and open APIs, as well as what looks to be a pretty important development for its well-known autonomous network (AN) project. As operators persevere in their endeavours to reach the high bar of Level 4 network autonomy and beyond, it’s not always clear how progress is measured and how telcos can prove which level they have attained in a particular network domain, or for a particular process within a domain. However, TM Forum has come to the rescue (it hopes) with three initiatives that allow operators to validate and prove their progress: The Autonomous Network Level Assessment Validation (ANLAV) service, the AN Levels Skills Path, and the 2025 AN Implementation Guide. As noted by the TM Forum, the trio provide a “comprehensive pathway for communications service providers to reach AN Level 4+ maturity, where AI-driven, self-managing networks reduce operational costs, boost resilience, and enable zero-touch service innovation”. TM Forum already provides the Autonomous Network Level Evaluations Tool (ANLET) but said that until now there has been no means for operators to independently validate their progress. “With the general availability of the ANLAV service – piloted by China Mobile, China Telecom, AIS, IOH, TDC Net, and Telkomsel – members can turn their ANLET evaluation data into an independently audited, industry-validated benchmark, driving industry confidence in moving to AN Level 4 while enabling early adopters to signal their competitive edge,” TM Forum explained. It noted that more than 30 global CSPs have undertaken ANLET evaluations and that “many are reporting significant business value across a range of network automation scenarios”. For instance, TM Forum states that China Mobile is nearing AN Level 4 across multiple, complex domains, including IP backhaul and radio access network (RAN) fault management, achieving an 80% reduction in major network faults, saving over 5,500 person-years of labour and more than 7 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. In other examples, China Telecom has apparently saved 1 billion kilowatt hours of electricity and aims to reach AN Level 4 in 40% of its high-value scenarios by the year end; TDC Net has become the first operator to be formally validated, via the ANLAV assessment, for RAN energy-efficiency optimisation, in partnership with Ericsson; and Telefónica Vivo in Brazil has reached AN Level 4 in network creation and planning for its transmission network, with efficiency gains of up to 90% in route convergence and a 60% reduction in budget approval time. Yet despite the progress that is clearly being made, operators still have a long way to go on the journey to Level 4, as indicated by Rahul Kumar, senior partner and global industry leader for telecom at IBM Consulting. “Only 6% of CSPs are saying they have Level 4 autonomous networks,” Kumar said. On a more positive note, he added that the industry is “on the path to see double-digit growth in this area over the next three years”. For more on this topic, see this press release from TM Forum.

Speaking of autonomous networks… Finnish telco Elisa has signed up to use Google Cloud’s Autonomous Network Operations framework, which the hyperscaler unveiled last week. Elisa, which is known as an industry leader in implementing process automation, says that to “achieve an ‘agentic telco network’ – an advanced, self-managing, and self-optimising telecommunications network – Elisa is using Google Cloud’s BigQuery data warehouse and Spanner database to consolidate and manage its network data,” and is also using the hyperscaler’s Vertex AI, “a unified AI development platform”, as well as Google’s Gemini models “to build and train agents”. Elisa says it is “building agents using Google Cloud’s Agent Development Kit (ADK) and then connecting them together as multi-agent systems with Google’s open-source-based, Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol. These agents will be tailored to specific Elisa workflows, enabling predictive analytics, automated diagnostics, and prescriptive actions across the network.” Read more.  

Back to the TM Forum and its work in the telecom API domain… The forum has announced a long-awaited move that brings greater alignment between TM Forum open APIs and network APIs developed within Camara, the Linux Foundation’s open-source network API project. As is well documented, Camara is working closely with the GSMA-led Open Gateway initiative on the development of network APIs that are expected to simplify developer access to telco network functionality. Meanwhile, the TM Forum, which has been developing open APIs for years, has also launched a suite of operate APIs that are designed to automate the availability of telecom services on third-party platforms. However, until now, there has been no single means to verify that both TM Forum operate APIs and Camara service APIs are conformant to Open Gateway standards and across different telco implementations. Now, TM Forum and the GSMA have addressed this missing link by unveiling a unified certification programme to verify that both flavours of APIs are conformant to Open Gateway standards. As explained by TM Forum, telcos get “faster, simpler integration across partners and marketplaces, vendors can streamline delivery of standards-based solutions, and aggregators and marketplaces can onboard Open Gateway APIs with confidence in their interoperability and security”. Telefónica is said to have been instrumental in testing the certification process and will be the first telco to obtain joint certification for in-production operate APIs. Moreover, Aduna – a global aggregator for Open Gateway – has become a member of the TM Forum and will “play an active role in driving end-to-end integration across the entire ecosystem”. Meanwhile, a total of 73 mobile operator groups, representing 284 mobile networks and almost 80% of mobile connections globally, have joined the Open Gateway initiative since it was launched at MWC Barcelona 2023. For more details, see this press release. 

Sticking with the API topic… Aduna, the recently formed telco API joint venture formed by a dozen telcos and Ericsson, has struck a technology partnership with Microsoft, which will host Aduna’s platform on the Azure cloud and integrate Microsoft AI “to unlock actionable insights and intelligence for enterprises and developers using network APIs globally.” As a result of the collaboration, “Aduna’s aggregated network APIs will be made available as native Microsoft services via partners in the Azure Marketplace. This will give Microsoft’s global developer and enterprise community direct access to network functionality, including SIM swap detection, phone number verification, real-time device location, and on-demand quality-of-service controls.” 

Still with Aduna… In Japan, the joint venture has struck partnerships with NTT Docomo (see this announcement) and SoftBank Corp. (this announcement) to help expand developer relationships in the country and build a broader ecosystem around standardised telecom application programming interfaces (APIs). KDDI, the third of the trio of major mobile operators in Japan, is one of the founders and equity stakeholders in Aduna.   

And still with network APIs… Australian telco Telstra, another of the founding partners at Aduna, is hedging its bets when it comes to network API outreach. Its muru-D Labs unit, a “hub for incubating ideas, products, and technologies”, is to provide access to a select mix of live and simulated network APIs on Nokia’s Network as Code platform with developer portal, designed to make it easier for developers to build, test and deploy new applications that securely tap into Telstra’s advanced network capabilities,” according to Nokia. The collaboration will “focus on real-world use cases across industries, such as managing network traffic during large events, improving network observability, and prioritising critical services,” the vendor added in this announcement.  

No DTW Ignite would be complete without an update on TM Forum’s beloved Open Digital Architecture (ODA) programme, and this year there have been two announcements to date. First off, Verizon has become the latest telco – and the second US telco after AT&T – to gain ‘Running on ODA’ status. To attain that badge, the operators have to pass a rigorous set of tests related to the deployment and running of a cloud-native, ODA-compliant architecture. It brings the total number of operators that have achieved ‘Running on ODA’ status to 18 – the other 17 being AT&T, Axiata, BT Group, CityFibre, Deutsche Telekom, Entel Group, Jio, NTT Group, Orange, SES Astra, STC, Telefonica Germany, Telefonica Group, Telia, Telstra, Telus, and Vodafone. As noted by Sudharsan Srinivasan, senior vice president of technology, security, governance & infrastructure at Verizon, “Using TM Forum’s ODA framework ensures more than just compliance; it confirms that we’ve operationalised the industry’s blueprint for agility and innovation at scale”. And in other ODA news, TM Forum has launched ODA Component Certification, which it described as a “key milestone in the forum’s industry mission to achieve truly plug-and-play, composable IT and ecosystems”. It added that the programme builds on the growing momentum behind the ODA Canvas, TM Forum’s runtime execution environment for integrating and deploying ODA Components at scale on cloud platforms. 

In other news related to the key topics being discussed at DTW Ignite… Billing systems giant CSG has announced a new strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to “fast-track cloud transformation” in the telecom and financial services sectors. “Our extended collaboration with AWS amplifies the value of CSG’s Converged Mediation solution by pairing it with AWS’s global infrastructure,” stated Mayoor Mahendra, VP of network solutions at CSG. According to the vendor, running its mediation tools on AWS “delivers up to 60% total cost of ownership savings and accelerates customers’ journey to the cloud while unlocking new operational efficiencies. CSG and AWS will co-invest to expand access to cloud-native capabilities through technical enablement, go-to-market collaboration and ongoing platform innovation. In turn, CSG customers gain access to advanced technologies like AI, agentic AI and GenAI, empowering them to scale efficiently, monetise investments and deliver differentiated experiences that build trust and long-term loyalty.” 

Singapore-based operator M1 is to deploy Ericsson’s Transport Automation Controller to enhance its data transport network with “advanced automation and analytics, and best-in-class network observability”.

SoftBank Group, the parent company of Japanese telco SoftBank Corp, has raised about $4.8bn from the sale of T-Mobile US shares to help fund its AI plans, reports Bloomberg. SoftBank Group is at the heart of a number of AI infrastructure investments, including the Stargate Project announced in January. The Japanese company, which is headed up by Masayoshi Son, sold 21.5 million T-Mobile US shares – about a quarter of its total holding in the US telco. Even after the sale, SoftBank Group remains the second-largest shareholder in T-Mobile US with a stake of about 5.6%. Deutsche Telekom is the majority shareholder in the US operator. 

– The staff, TelecomTV