TM Forum and GSMA Partner to Accelerate Global API Economy With Unified Conformance Certification Program for Open Gateway APIs

TM Forum and GSMA announced a single, unified conformance certification program for all APIs within the GSMA Open Gateway initiative, spearheaded by GSMA, CAMARA, and TM Forum. Now, through one single process, CSPs can certify conformance for TM Forum Operate APIs and CAMARA Service APIs, guaranteeing interoperability with the Open Gateway ecosystem.

This unified certification delivers industry-wide benefits; CSPs get faster, simpler integration across partners and marketplaces, vendors can streamline delivery of standards-based solutions, and aggregators and marketplaces can onboard Open Gateway APIs with confidence in their interoperability and security. Together, it removes complexity, lowers costs, and accelerates monetization.

CSPs need to deliver new services to drive revenue growth, APIs are the pathway to delivering this, but the historical lack of a unified approach to standards development has led to divergence and complexity that has hindered participation in the thriving global API economy.

GSMA Open Gateway is a global framework of common network APIs that simplifies access for software developers to embed mobile operators’ network capabilities into their applications. Open Gateway’s Operate APIs – developed in TM Forum’s Open API industry collaboration program – play a vital role in enabling CSPs to monetize these network APIs through aggregation platforms and global marketplaces. Other TM Forum Open APIs – a suite of more than 100 industry-agreed APIs downloaded more than 1.1 million times – support end-to-end automation of service delivery and assurance to end users. 

Since its launch at MWC Barcelona 2023, 73 mobile operator groups, representing 284 mobile networks and almost 80% of mobile connections globally, have joined the Open Gateway initiative.

Open Gateway’s Service APIs – developed under the open source CAMARA project – together with TM Forum Operate APIs facilitate seamless connectivity, interoperability, and portability across complex ecosystem services, enabling CSPs and vendors to work together in a faster and more flexible way.

However, until now, there has been no single means to verify that both TM Forum Operate APIs and CAMARA Service APIs are conformant to Open Gateway standards and across different CSP implementations, adding undue complexity across the ecosystem.

With this new program, TM Forum’s Operate APIs, within the Open Gateway initiative, can be certified alongside CAMARA’s Service APIs as part of GSMA’s API testing program – designed to guarantee interoperability with Open Gateway aggregators and marketplaces. CSPs can now expose capabilities to multiple marketplaces and ensure they can consistently, easily and quickly integrate and monetize them, improving time to market and reach.

Telefónica has been instrumental in testing the certification process and will be the first CSP to obtain joint certification for in-production Operate APIs. Its implementation of TMF931, Open Gateway Onboarding & Ordering API and TMF936, Open Gateway Product Catalog API, simplifies channel onboarding by enabling plug-and-play integration with partners using industry-standard APIs. At the same time, Telefónica retains full control over which third-party apps can access its resources – delivering the right balance of openness, security, and control.

To further support the industry in providing a unified approach to API integration and standardization, TM Forum has also announced that Aduna – a global aggregator for Open Gateway – has become a member. Aduna is focused on building global marketplace for APIs within the Open Gateway framework that connect CSPs to developer communities. As a TM Forum member, Aduna will play an active role in driving end-to-end integration across the entire ecosystem. At DTW Ignite, TM Forum’s flagship summit, Aduna is demonstrating how Operate APIs can simplify, standardize and automate the onboarding of developers and ordering of service APIs via channel partners.

Nik Willetts, CEO, TM Forum: “Our Members are leading the industry’s transformation toward a composable, plug-and-play future, built on Open Digital Architecture. TM Forum’s Open API project has laid solid foundations – helping to scale interoperability and accelerate monetization across the ecosystem. Today’s unified certification program builds on that success, reducing integration friction and giving global confidence in interoperable APIs. This milestone reflects the strength of our long-standing collaboration with the GSMA and our shared commitment to building an open, vibrant API economy. By working together, we’re shaping the future of connectivity.”

Henry Calvert, Head of Network, GSMA: “By unifying conformance certification for all APIs within the Open Gateway framework, we are further simplifying access to network capabilities, ensuring enterprise developers can create transformative services utilizing the full potential of 5G networks. The work being done with TM Forum ensures that telecoms operators and developers alike can benefit from seamless integration and standardized frameworks, paving the way for a more connected and efficient API-driven ecosystem.”

Andrea Folgueiras, Global CTIO, Telefónica: At Telefonica, we believe that this joint certification agreement reached by TM Forum and GSMA is highly beneficial for operators and the industry in general. This common approach means enhanced efficiency, reduced integration costs, and the ability to deliver network services at an effective scale to our customers, allowing us to achieve the benefits expected from the Open Gateway program. We are pleased and proud to have collaborated with TM Forum and GSMA, jointly defining this certification process, ensuring its completeness and robustness. This collaborative effort underscores our commitment to excellence and our dedication to driving the industry progress.”

TM Forum's Open API project has been at the forefront of the challenge to find the right mechanism for CSPs and vendors to work together in a faster and more flexible way. To date, 100 TM Forum member organizations have certified over 1,700+ TM Forum Open APIs, which have been downloaded more than one million times by more than 3000 companies.

Source: TM Forum and GSMA media announcement