GSMA launched Open Gateway at MWC Barcelona in 2023. Since then, service providers have taken interest in it. But there’s still a bit of mystery about what Open Gateway is, how it can benefit users, and how service providers can capitalize on it.

What’s the problem that this fixes?

Ben: It’s mainly intended to address the problem of network complexity and global communications, which is a large hurdle for new businesses to jump over when looking to leverage services from mobile operators. So, it’s making life a lot easier for operators and developers.

Can you explain a use case for Open Gateway?

Ben: A major factor for the GSMA Open Gateway to be a success is the adoption of the APIs that are derived from the initiative.

One significant use case for the Squire Open Gateway, which addresses this is that it’s intended to act as a layer between the existing APIs and the Camara APIs that are derived from the initiative.

This means if an operator or service provider doesn’t wish to or doesn’t have the capabilities to develop against these new standardised APIs, Squire Technologies’ product can act as an integration layer for them.

It gives them the flexibility to easily support APIs when they desire without fundamentally changing any of their existing interface configurations.

How is this flexibility going to strategically benefit operators in a market sense?

Ben: It gives operators the ability to decide as and when they wish to adopt certain APIs very, very easily depending on the use case or the market type, and then enables a quick time to market for their customers as the standardised APIs already exist in Squire Technologies’ product.

There is growing interest in APIs and GSMA’s open gateway. Where is this all leading to?

Ben: As the adoption of standardized APIs grows within operators, monetization opportunities will expand.

This will tie in heavily with the steady but growing adoption of 5G standalone, which will highlight many more unique monetization opportunities beyond the traditional validation and fraud prevention services.

5G service-based architecture can be seen as quite complex, therefore it’s going to be essential for operators to consider a solution like Squire Technologies’ Open Gateway to enable an easy API layer for northbound customer integration and this is going to give a very quick onboarding process.

The real benefit is a shorter time to market thanks to flexibility, correct?

Ben: Yes. From my perspective, that’s one of the major benefits. Time to market with new revenue generating offers is always a key factor for operators.

Having a solution like Squire Technologies’ Open Gateway in their arsenal will drive operator’s ability to jump into new services quickly and flexibly for their customers.

Find out more about Squire Technologies Open Gateway at www.squire-technologies.co.uk/products/open-gateway