Informa Exposing Telecom APIs

Exposing Telecom APIs
Camille Mendler
Dimitris Mavrakis
Informa Telecoms & Media

Research extract
February 2013

What is an API?
‘APIs are how people get to your business.’
Sam Ramji, Apigee

1. An interface defining rules to interact
with software components
• Exposes specific functionality and/or data
• Allows communication with other apps

2. Simplifies access to complex processes
• Improves customer experience
• Speeds time to consumption

3. Stimulates innovation
• Supports mashups, the combination of APIs
to create a new application

Picture: flickr/droetker0912

February 2013
© Informa UK Ltd. All rights reserved. 2
www.informatandm.com

Informa’s Exposing Telecom APIs survey
Exposing Telecom APIs: Survey respondents
Content API broker /
Goals producer / aggregator /
distributor
• Which telecom APIs are valued? Device / vendor /
owner 3%
Other*
6%
module /
• Is demand rising? chipset maker 3%
• Who is involved? 4%

Cloud
Results services Telecom
• 369 respondents provider operator
6% 35%
• 72% already directly involved
in the API ecosystem Integrator /
consultancy
10%
Method Software
• Online survey, Nov-Dec 2012 Network
developer /
vendor
infrastructure 21%
vendor
12% n= 369
Source: Informa Telecoms & Media, Exposing Telecom APIs survey, 2012

*Other: Broadcaster, regulator/government, academia/research
February 2013

Survey respondents by geography
Exposing Telecom APIs: Survey respondents
by geography

Latin Middle East
Respondents from 60 countries America 5%
7%
• Balanced between developed
Eastern
and emerging economies Europe and Western
CIS Europe
• Notable response from Africa 9% 31%

Africa
13%

North Asia Pacific
America 20%
15%

n= 369

February 2013

Highlights
• Two thirds of operators already have an API initiative underway
• Emerging market operators are rapidly getting involved

• APIs for telco big data analytics are the no. 1 new requirement
• Developers want to dig into telco subscriber behavior

• Three quarters of (non-telco) API market stakeholders
expect telecom API demand to multiply over the next two years
• Mobilization of the web is the key driver of API demand

• A fifth of API stakeholders don’t know of any telco API program
• Telco API fragmentation is the leading reason for developer discontent
and lack of awareness

• More than half of API stakeholders want telcos to pool APIs
• Suggestions include an existing API aggregator or as a telco-only group,
despite the failure of the Wholesale Applications Community
February 2013

Exposing APIs is becoming the rule

Telecom operators: Are you developing your own APIs?

Picture: flickr/ Horia Varlan
30% launched 35% no plans
35% under development
Base: Telecom operator respondents (n= 126)

A flood of new telecom APIs will appear in 2013.
February 2013

It’s a truly global trend

Developed market telcos are active

Lebanon Kenya Indonesia

So are many in emerging markets

Malaysia

February 2013

Appetite for telecom APIs will grow
Non-telcos: How will demand for telecom APIs evolve over the next two years?

Demand will grow due to
ongoing mobilization of 75%
web/cloud

Demand will drop, APIs from
non-telco firms will dominate 17%

Picture: flickr/ Horia Varlan
Demand levels will stay the
same 8%

Base: Non-telco respondents involved in the API ecosystem (n=192)

The digital economy needs APIs to drive efficient – and satisfying –
consumption of cloud, mobile and broadband resources.
February 2013

Telecom APIs: They’re not just for SMS
Telecom operators: APIs on offer
• Account management/provisioning
Messaging 66% • API for B2B2C operations (ex contact APIs)
• Behavior management
Billing 66%
• Call Control, Micro Payment, Credit Transfer
Location / presence 52% • Call Management
• Customer service management
Device management 37% • Eligibility
Security /identity mgmt 34% • Interactive TV
• Inventory management
Social networking 30% • Mobile payment
Unified communications • M2M, digital commerce and advertising
29%
• Predictive medicine
Number portability 28% • Service activation
Other 18% Base: Telecom operator respondents
already active in API ecosystem (n= 83)
% of respondents Source: Informa Telecoms & Media, Exposing Telecom APIs survey, 2012

Although the top 3 are no surprise, operators’ API portfolios are diversifying.
February 2013

Today: Billing tops telecom API needs
Non-telcos: Which telecom APIs
are most valuable?
• Airtime top up
Billing / payments 61% • Data roaming
Identity / subscriber data management 46% • Device configuration
Location 28%
• Mobile money
• Number portability
SMS / MMS 26% • Prioritization
M2M 20% • QoS
• RCS service APIs
UC and related call control 20%
• SIM / UICC APIs
Security 20% • Voice / video calling
Presence and IM 16%
Device capability discovery 13%
Other 25%

% of respondents Base: Non-telco respondents involved in the API ecosystem (n=192)

Although priorities are broadly aligned, telecom operators believe that their
billing and M2M APIs are more valuable than non-telcos credit them to be.
February 2013

Future: Two thirds want access to telco big data
Non-telcos: What other telecom APIs have high potential?
Exposing subscriber, device, app and network
analytics to preferred partners (eg: Big Data) 70%

Access a global carrier’s worldwide reach for
wholesale billing, voice + messaging delivery 59%

Automating access to cloud-based storage and
compute resources (eg: IaaS) 54%

Providing a virtual office-in-a-box to small businesses
(eg: UC, virtual desktop, business apps) 43%

Managing prepaid data roaming and inter-standard
roaming (e.g. LTE) 40%

% of respondents

Telco usage analytics lead the API shopping list - but avoiding data protection
and privacy pitfalls won’t be easy.
February 2013

What are the biggest issues? Some out-takes

“Inconsistent APIs between carriers are off-putting “It is mandatory that Telcos expose
to developers, especially for enterprise applications.” standardized APIs (e.g. Parlay X, or
extensions for billing).
API broker
It is a major missed opportunity that Telcos
did not agree on APIs to offer features that
OTTs cannot have (e.g. billing, QoS).”
“APIs are not Telcos’ strong suit, and it's really the
nimbleness and rapid evolution that makes it tough
Integrator
for Telcos to keep up.

Fragmentation by creating various universal
coalitions/standards, but they never work. “Make APIs as easy to use as possible.
Avoid making developers’ lives miserable
A developer needs to know that their messages will (e.g. keep an eye on what Twilio or Voxeo
get delivered regardless of the carrier the user has.” have done on simplifying voice APIs ).”

Cloud service provider Software developer

February 2013

What should telcos do to be successful?
Non-telcos: What’s the No. 1 action that telcos should take
to be successful in the API ecosystem?

Ally with other operators to sell APIs
globally 26%
Outsource API monetization to a trusted
partner 26%
Focus on developing their own web-
standard APIs to improve their own services 20%
Become trusted brokers of their own and
3rd party APIs 18%
They will never be successful due to
strength of existing competition 5%


To succeed, telcos must market APIs beyond their direct sphere of control.
February 2013

For telcos, APIs are part of a wider transformation

Standardized SDN
hardware
Base ‘Cloud’
stations
OSS

Telecom BSS

Policy IT
APIs
Server
‘Big Data’ farms
Verticalization Virtualization

APIs will be used across telco operations – they are not simply another
operational silo or discrete business.
February 2013

Final thoughts

• APIs are becoming the common currency
of the digital economy
• Telecom operators must offer APIs
in order to trade

• Telecom APIs have a strong and growing role
in the post-PC world
• Their subscribers remain their key asset

• Success lies in wide telecom API distribution
• Telecom operators can’t do it alone

• Direct monetization of telecom APIs remains
questionable
• Consequential benefits need further
validation
Picture: flickr/droetker0912

February 2013

For more information:

Camille Mendler Dimitris Mavrakis
Principal Analyst Principal Analyst
camille.mendler@informa.com dimitris.mavrakis@informa.com
Twitter: @cmendler Twitter: @dmavrakis

16

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