Network API: Achieving Simplicity on the Other Side of Complexity

Both approaches tend to be pretty vague. So it’s pretty rare that representatives of different telecoms—like Orange, Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom—share a stage and discuss not only the actual use cases of network APIs but also their limitations and the work that needs to be done to make them useful for developers.  

Cedric Gonin (Orange), Fernando Guillot Gimeno (Telefónica Innovación Digital), and Noel Wirzius (Deutsche Telekom AG) got pretty real(istic) onstage at Infobip Shift Conference, where they were joined by  Nokia’s Shkumbin Hamiti and Infobip’s Matija Razem.   

What are the use cases for Network APIs?  

The first issue on the table was – what do network APIs actually provide?  

Gonin explained that network APIs give developers access to certain user information that telcos use to identify their customers, like ISDN, MSIDN, SIM status, and other user information. This information is what you need to confirm that the device in question is really the one requesting information without sending information via SMS.  

It adds an additional layer of security against fraud and regular usage—after all, users can and do change numbers.  

Gimeno stressed that dynamic data is especially interesting to developers. Take, for example, API Device location—it has two uses, he explains. One is verification, verifying info that you already know—if you’re in front of the ATM, the bank can see if you are really around the ATM and the one getting the money. If you’re away, it can stop the transaction automatically.  

The other use is geofencing, meaning developers can set an area where they want an activity to occur. That way, a shop can offer a customer something when they are in the vicinity, or you could get a notification when your kids arrive where they are going.  

Of course, some of this can be achieved through a GPS signal, but GPS can be tampered with when it’s not coming from multiple antennas. Wirzius notes that getting the location from your telco without using your phone’s GPS is not only more accurate but also saves batteries. So it’s not just about inventing new use cases with Network APIs—it’s also about upgrading old ones using different technology.  

Use cases are great, but ease of use should be greater  

The what is important when it comes to Network APIs, everyone agrees, but the how holds as much weight. Quality of service is a part of mission-critical capabilities, and part of that is simplifying API usage and documentation.   

The telcos must embark on this journey together if they want NetworkAPIs to reach their potential. They noted that simplicity does not come naturally to them.   

After all, telcos rely on standards, as there is no other way to ensure interoperability. They have a natural tendency to introduce new standards when they face a problem, and that is somewhat at odds with their current mission of removing complexity from Network APIs.  

This is also where partnerships like the one with Infobip help by removing complexity for the end users – the developers. Let’s say you want to fly a drone over country borders. You cannot do this unless you can guarantee you’ll be able to operate it at all times, requiring you to have agreements with each telco that covers the area you want to fly it. Intermediaries like Infobip allow you to do this through a single API. They negotiate and make agreements with telcos all over Europe and worldwide so that developers don’t have to.   

In the words of Steve Balmer: Developers, developers, developers  

It’s also important to make things available to developers in a way they are used to, Hamiti stressed: “Linux foundation project Camara is one of the key efforts in that direction. Contributors help to scale it, but making it truly global requires close collaboration – between telcos and developers, but also amongst telcos themselves.” 

The first steps for developers, Gonin noted, would be to bring new ideas:  

“We are trying to do the same as with the first smartphones. We provide support for new ideas and create a platform for them. We can help bring new use cases to market and make them successful. We need to provide a full range to end-users to make Network APIs happen.”

Gimeno agrees:  

“The center point is developers. I worked for many years for Microsoft. I always remember Steve Balmer standing up in front of a huge crowd shouting, “Developers, developers , developers!”. Everything we are doing as integrators and telcos is making it easy for devs to do what they do.”  

He reminds us that it’s a new initiative—with 44 telcos participating, covering 22 countries. Yet if NetworkAPIs are global one day, telcos need to stop competing in their area and work together so developers don’t have to worry about what part of the country their users are in and what telco they are using.