Telecom companies want to be big tech: MWC gets great alliance to beat them at their own game

Telecom companies are more united than ever. And they are using Mobile World Congress 2023 as an opportunity to flex their muscles. Under the banner of GSMA Open Gateway, operators from around the world have come together to launch a project that hopes to fundamentally change the roles these companies play and the services they provide.

What this means for NaaS. The idea is to provide "Network as a Service" or "Network as a Service", although they also call it NaaP ("Network as a Platform"). It's a paradigm shift in what they've delivered so far. Where previously they only provided the infrastructure to connect to the Internet, now telcos have created APIs for developers to create services. That is, they have opened up mobile networks so that applications and solutions can be built directly on them. All telecommunication companies in one. There are all major operators in the world, from Telefónica to Vodafone through Orange, Deutsche Telekom, AT&T, Verizon or China Mobile. A total of 21 telecommunications companies offer federation interfaces.

Telefónica and GSMA President José María Alvarez-Pallete, who announced the initiative, explained that "GSMA Open Gateway aims to transform the entire ecosystem for the benefit of all". They want to be Big Tech, but they keep working with them. 

The gateway opens up many possibilities by connecting open web APIs. In fact, they offer solutions and services that were previously only available through technology. But even as telcos expand their reach, they will still need technology to operate. The name they use to define them is "hyper-fluxers" and they define working with them as "crucial". We are talking about service providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud, with whom they have contracted to implement these APIs.

Respond on time? NaaS proposals are not new, but they have been separate projects until now. With Gateway, we have a global platform that almost all telcos aspire to. The movement can be understood as an attempt to reassess one's role. In recent years, we have seen how SMS was relegated to a messaging app or how TV channels provided by telecom companies were replaced by streaming platforms. With Gateway, they want to make their solution attractive again. Concepts like SMS, SIM, data speed, coverage, roaming, etc. wants to innovate again. how to? Lets develop around them. What possible changes users will notice. It will all depend on how many developers apply for the scheme, but the telecoms office has outlined some options. Here we leave you with a few:

• Confirm the number without sending an SMS. Get speed based on usage. Contract 1 Gbps but when we play or watch 4K video we have 10 Gbps when roaming or when the battery is low it drops to 500 Mbps e.g. Check that the GPS matches the location calculated by the network. Automatically adjust certain parameters depending on whether we are roaming or not. More security: Avoid changing SIM cards by checking SIM data directly. In total, eight specific APIs were announced at MWC 2023, including "Quality on Demand", "Device Status", "Number Verification" or "Carrier Billing", although the telco explained that new ones are coming soon. year. It already works. Operators such as Vodafone explained that these APIs are already being used by, for example, the SecureNet service to adjust coverage during the La Palma volcano emergency. In the case of Telefónica, they explain things like integrated video calls in the virtual world or the possibility to pay with your phone bill, which combines Movistar Plus and Kanto's Living App, a popular karaoke application.

These are point solutions, but they want Open Gateway to be an API platform used globally. The possibilities are huge, but as always, it will depend on whether the rest of the world is willing to take advantage of them.

xataka.com