By Andrea Hargraves 
The world’s major telecom companies, including Vodafone, announced the creation of a common platform to monetize the sale of their 5G networks to application developers on the first day of the Mobile World Congress (MWC).
The GSMA, the association that brings these operators together, has unveiled the Open Gateway project, in which operators will make available open, unified APIs (lines of code for exchanging information) to developers and cloud service providers, which can be used in “marketplaces” of different sectors such as Anti-fraud, fintech, gaming or smart mobility.
Launched with the support of 21 mobile network operators, the move represents a paradigm shift in the way the telecom industry designs and delivers services. The GSMA Open Gateway will help developers and cloud service providers to consolidate and deploy services more quickly across operator networks through single access points to the world’s largest connectivity platform.
“By applying the concept of carrier interconnection to the API economy, developers can leverage the technology for services like identity, cybersecurity or billing, but with the potential to integrate with all carriers around the world. This is a profound shift in the way we design Services and we deliver.In 1987, 13 operators worked together to coordinate mobile voice services and enable roaming, and I believe that after 36 years, GSMA Open Gateway has the potential to make a similar impact for digital services,” says Mats Granryd, CEO of GSMA.
The GSMA’s Open Gateway MOU is supported by some of the largest and most innovative mobile network operators, accounting for approximately 45% of mobile connections.