From Network APIs to Revenue: What Telcos Need to Execute Now

For years, telecom operators have invested heavily in modernising their networks. While 5G rollout and cloud-native transformation have created new technical capabilities, they have not fundamentally changed the industry's monetisation challenge.

Traditional connectivity revenues continue to face pressure while enterprise demand for programmable, network-aware services is increasing. This is where Network APIs are changing the conversation.

Instead of exposing network capabilities only to internal systems, operators can make selected functions securely available through standardised APIs, allowing enterprises and digital service providers to integrate network intelligence directly into their own applications.

The question is therefore no longer whether Network APIs matter, but how operators can operationalise them at scale.

Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) is often misunderstood as simply exposing network functions.

In reality, it represents a shift towards programmable network capabilities that can be consumed on demand through APIs.

Examples include:

• Quality-on-Demand
• Device Location
• Number Verification
• SIM Swap Detection
• Carrier Billing
• Edge capabilities

These capabilities allow telecom operators to create new digital products without fundamentally changing the underlying network.

For enterprises, they enable use cases ranging from fraud prevention and digital identity to enhanced customer experiences, IoT services and intelligent application performance.

Network APIs only become commercially attractive if they are available consistently across operators.

This is precisely the objective of the GSMA Open Gateway initiative.

Within this ecosystem, CAMARA develops open, standardised API specifications that allow developers to consume network capabilities without having to integrate separately with every operator.

Rather than creating fragmented proprietary interfaces, operators can participate in a common API ecosystem that lowers integration effort and accelerates service adoption.

This creates a scalable foundation for Network-as-a-Service.

Publishing APIs is only one part of the equation.

Commercial success depends on the ability to expose, secure, govern, orchestrate and monetise those APIs across existing network and IT environments.

This requires capabilities including:

• API Exposure
• API Management
• Identity and Consent Management
• Charging and Monetization Execution
• OSS/BSS Integration
• Security and Policy Enforcement

Without these operational building blocks, Network APIs remain technical demonstrations rather than scalable commercial products.

Tallence supports telecom operators in connecting Network APIs with existing operational environments.

Our expertise focuses on integrating API platforms into complex OSS, BSS and network landscapes while supporting operators in addressing security, privacy and regulatory requirements.

This includes:

• API Exposure platforms
• OSS/BSS integration
• Monetization Execution
• API orchestration
• Cloud-native integration architectures
• End-to-end testing for API-based services

Rather than replacing existing systems, the goal is to enable operators to build new digital services on top of their current infrastructure.

Industry initiatives such as GSMA Open Gateway have established common standards.

The next challenge is execution.

Operators need to transform standardised APIs into commercially viable services that can be discovered, consumed, governed and billed across multiple enterprise use cases.

Execution increasingly determines competitive advantage.

Tallence is working with Telefónica Deutschland on Open Gateway-related initiatives that demonstrate how standardised Network APIs can be integrated into existing operator environments.

The focus is not only on exposing APIs but on connecting them with operational systems, governance processes and commercial monetisation models that enable scalable enterprise services.

As more operators adopt Open Gateway standards, differentiation will shift away from the APIs themselves.

Instead, competitive advantage will depend on how efficiently operators can:

• integrate APIs into existing architectures
• launch new services
• support enterprise developers
• automate operations
• monetise usage
• maintain governance and security

This makes execution capabilities just as important as standardisation.

Industry analysts increasingly view Network APIs as a significant future revenue opportunity.

McKinsey estimates that Network APIs could contribute US$10–30 billion in direct API revenues, while broader connectivity and edge-enabled services may create US$100–300 billion in additional value over the coming years.

At the same time, industry initiatives continue to mature. Aduna, the joint venture backed by Ericsson and leading global telecom operators, demonstrates the industry's commitment to accelerating the commercial adoption of standardised Network APIs.

Instead of the current outdated links, I would recommend linking to current Tallence content such as:

• API Exposure Platform
• Monetization Execution / MATRIXX
• End-to-End Testing
• OSS/BSS Modernization
• GSMA Open Gateway (if dedicated page exists)