Data volumes continue to grow at an exponential rate, driven by the continuing thirst for cloud services and hosted video content, and turbocharged by the rise in AI services. This growth should be positive news for telcos who own networks, especially in the wholesale market where growth in demand is outstripping supply. However, competition is fierce, and achieving wholesale growth is challenging. APIs and cooperation between providers are crucial in achieving a leading position in the wholesale market and will deliver knock-on benefits for enterprise customers, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Gary Barton, Research Director for Enterprise Technology and Services at GlobalData, comments: “Not all wholesale buyers consume capacity in the same way, but our conversations with some of the largest buyers of wholesale telecoms services have reinforced the importance of an API-enabled buying process. Price and capacity in the right location are always important, but we have been told by leading companies that they increasingly will not work with companies that do not offer the right API-led buying process.”
However, APIs in networks are about more than commercial models – they also play a foundational role in achieving consistent end-to-end functionality when multiple service provider networks are involved. The rise of highly automated network-as-a-service (NaaS) solutions has significantly increased the importance in maintaining control and visibility over data and applications when multiple provider networks are involved.
Barton continues: “No single provider can reach everywhere, not even in their home market. The deglobalization of telcos and growing demand for capacity in emerging markets also mean that wholesale and enterprise network buyers need to work with multiple providers. Telcos need to develop APIs that allow a consistency of customer experience for network services that mirror the consistency experienced when buying public cloud services in multiple locations.”
Achieving end-to-end consistency is not something that can be achieved by telcos acting independently. To deliver the experience that network service buyers want, there is a need for greater cooperation between service providers led by industry bodies such as the MEF and GSMA.
Barton concludes: “2024 has already seen progress on the wireless side, with the GSMA Open Gateway Initiative achieving traction following buy-in from multiple providers. More progress needs to be made on the wireline side. Co-operation with competing providers brings political challenges, but achieving consistency for functions such as ordering, provisioning, management, and observability will deliver benefits that help telcos offer greater value to customers and a defense against emerging competitors such as hyperscalers.”
