Brazilian Mobile Industry Launches Three Anti-Fraud Network Services And Becomes GSMA Open Gateway Pioneer

Through the initiative, Claro, TIM and Vivo will open their networks to developers around the world, enabling the creation of more secure digital services

Leader in 5G and digital innovation in Latin America, Brazil reinforces its pioneering profile by announcing its participation in the global GSMA Open Gateway initiative. Mobile operators Claro, TIM and Vivo have teamed up to launch three network services focused on improving digital security: number verification, SIM swap and device location. The announcement, the first in the region involving multiple operators, was made during an event organized by the GSMA, in São Paulo.

Launched earlier this year at MWC Barcelona, ​​the GSMA Open Gateway initiative represents a paradigm shift in the way the global telecommunications industry designs and brings to market new mobile applications and digital and immersive services. It will also help the mobile industry, enterprises and developers deliver better digital experiences on 5G networks, benefiting customers, society and the economy.

The GSMA Open Gateway is a common, open, cross-carrier framework to make it easier for developers and cloud providers to create applications and services that communicate seamlessly with each other and work for all devices and clients. This is accomplished through single access points to mobile networks known as APIs. Almost 40 mobile operator groups around the world, representing 228 mobile networks and 64% of global connections, are already part of the initiative.

The APIs introduced today by Brazilian operators, the first in an evolutionary path, are focused on combating digital fraud for financial institutions, such as banks and fintechs. The project guarantees 100% privacy from conception and fully complies with the LGPD, a set of Brazilian laws on the protection of personal data. The three APIs are:

• Number Verification : Offers continuous verification of a user's mobile number, providing strong authentication and an improved user experience. It's a simple evolution path for any company that uses cell phone numbers and one-time passwords via SMS. Instead of relying on sending SMS, number verification can be activated continuously and automatically to confirm a user's identity - which not only improves the user experience, but also eliminates potential issues such as people do not receive SMS or have difficulties using it due to lack of familiarity with technology.
• SIM Swap : This is used to check if a phone number has recently switched SIM cards. This helps prevent account takeover attacks, in which fraudsters take control of the account owner's SIM card using social engineering techniques and stolen personal data. At the time of a financial transaction, for example, a financial institution can check whether the relationship between the customer's phone number and the SIM card has recently changed, helping decision makers to approve the transaction or not.
• Device Location : Allows developers to confirm that a device is in a particular location, which can help detect and prevent fake transactions and protect customers from fraudsters who use GPS manipulation - known as fake GPS. The API ensures instant validation of the location area provided by the mobile device owner and the device's location area on the operator's network to prevent manipulation. In this way, delivery app companies, for example, can deploy technology to ensure that drivers are delivering to the correct customer.

The mobile industry hopes the initiative will accelerate the growth of digital services and applications, ensuring their seamless integration with national mobile networks, as well as hundreds of others around the world. As part of the GSMA Open Gateway, these APIs will be available locally and globally, meaning that, as well as Brazil's 145 million mobile customers, developers will also be able to reach new customers outside of the country as the initiative grows.

Carlos Araujo , Director of New Business at Claro, said: "Claro is driving the innovative Open Gateway initiative. This tool stands out as an essential instrument for the digital revolution, with special emphasis on its potential in validating identity and fraud prevention. By anticipating the demands of the constantly evolving market, Claro is committed to leading the way towards secure technology solutions. We are excited about the positive impact this initiative will have on global technological advancement."

Renato Ciuchini, VP of New Business and Innovation at TIM Brasil, said: "TIM is committed to the Brazilian market to offer the best security and fraud-fighting solutions. We want to create an increasingly safe and secure environment, benefiting the entire society. The opportunity to be part of the Open Gateway is aligned precisely with this scenario. Together with the GSMA, TIM is charting a safer and brighter path for everyone."

Debora Bortolasi, Executive Director B2B at Vivo, stated: "the Open Gateway initiative is a milestone in the transformation of the telecommunications sector, with a positive impact on the security of several industries in the market, as it allows the conversion of communications networks into digital platforms programmable by through global and standardized APIs, benefiting a large digital ecosystem, from startups to large companies."

Mats Granryd , Director General of the GSMA, said: "Through the GSMA Open Gateway initiative, Brazil's mobile operators are leading the way, helping enterprise developers and cloud providers launch new services to combat fraud and improve digital security. By taking this approach, we can ensure that new digital services not only work seamlessly on all mobile networks in Brazil, but also on hundreds of others around the world. Over the next year, we will see more and more Brazilians benefiting from the launch of these APIs commercial customers, making them feel more at ease knowing that their mobile services are more secure."

For this first set of APIs, local operators collaborated with strategic partners Infobip as a technical integrator and Microsoft Azure as a service platform provider.

Mijo Soldin , vice president of telecommunications strategy at Infobip, said: "This collaboration demonstrates Infobip's global market-leading position in CPaaS (communications platform as a service), our strong relationships with developers, and our history of strategic collaborations telecommunications. All are essential to increasing the potential for successful collaboration and faster time to revenue. The launch of the CAMARA-compatible API in Brazil represents an important step for Infobip, helping to democratize the messaging ecosystem globally, hand in hand with telcos. As an innovator and GSMA Open Gateway channel partner, we will continue to build and offer additional CAMARA-compatible APIs, working closely with our telco partners to expose developers to APIs friendly to the customer experience."

Ross Ortega , vice president of program management at Microsoft, said, "Microsoft is proud to continue building a strong relationship with the GSMA Open Gateway, embracing a future where modern connected applications and advanced networks seamlessly converge. Our commitment to standardization simplifies the software developer experience. Developers can make the most of the network without needing to customize their applications for a particular network, or becoming network experts. We are committed to working with the GSMA Open Gateway and operators to expose network capabilities that enable a new generation of applications.”

The GSMA Open Gateway APIs are defined, developed and published in CAMARA, the open source project for developers to access enhanced networking capabilities, led by the Linux Foundation in collaboration with the GSMA. All three APIs presented by Brazilian operators are expected to be commercially available by the end of 2023. The GSMA Open Gateway ecosystem in Brazil is expected to receive significant improvements in 2024, when new partners NTT Data and Vonage, part of Ericsson, join the initiative.

Source GSMA media announcement