Exploring the Technical and Business Impact of GSMA’s Open Gateway and Linux Foundation’s CAMARA Project on Telco Services

Blog, Camara

 

by Dominik Ogrodnik, Solution Architect in Amartus.

The telecommunications landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by the need for service integration, automation, and alignment with the Network as a Service (NaaS) paradigm shift. Connectivity services from telco providers are increasingly expected to function like ‘as a service’ offerings from hyperscalers. This means bringing programmability and on-demand behavior to networks, fueled by the demand for faster, more efficient digital solutions that enhance user experience and create new revenue streams for providers. Against this backdrop, GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative and Project CAMARA are emerging as significant industry efforts, so we want to focus on them in this blog post.

At Amartus, as a leader in NaaS automation solutions and a company deeply involved in industry standardization work at MEF and TMForum, we are closely monitoring the progress of Project CAMARA and its APIs. Our expertise in supporting service providers with B2B2X network service automation makes us particularly interested in how CAMARA’s standardized APIs might complement existing industry standards and frameworks. By staying engaged with CAMARA, we aim to better understand its potential impact on service provider networks and maintain our position at the forefront of NaaS automation developments.

Understanding the Industry Context and Key Initiatives

Both GSMA’s Open Gateway and Linux Foundation’s CAMARA project aim to bridge the gap between technical capabilities and business needs by exposing network capabilities through standardized, abstracted APIs. These APIs are designed to be directly accessible to consumers and third-party applications, enabling developers to seamlessly leverage core telco functionalities.

The initiatives focus particularly on broadening the use of APIs related to 5G networks. By exposing network capabilities as standardized APIs, they seek to enable new types of services that can directly access connectivity services. For example:

  • Quality on Demand (QoD) APIs can optimize gaming experiences by providing low-latency connection when needed
  • Fraud detection APIs can enhance banking security by leveraging real-time network insights to validate identity

However, while these initiatives show promise, they also raise important questions about feasibility and impact that need to be carefully considered.

Why GSMA Created the Open Gateway Concept

GSMA introduced the Open Gateway concept to address fragmentation in telco APIs and unlock network capabilities for developers worldwide. Open Gateway is a framework of universal network APIs designed to provide standardized access to telco networks. It includes, for example, APIs for accessing location and identity data, or adjusting on-demand service quality.

By simplifying access to network capabilities, Open Gateway aims to make telco networks programmable, enabling innovation and creating new services. However, it’s worth noting that this initiative might also be a response to the low return on investment (ROI) from 5G networks. By monetizing APIs, telcos hope to generate new revenue streams and justify the substantial investments made in 5G infrastructure.

APIs Included in the Open Gateway Framework

The Open Gateway framework includes a suite of APIs definitions that fall into several categories, including:

  • Anti-Fraud: This category includes APIs related to Subscriber Identity, for example Call Forwarding Signal, Device Roaming Status, Know Your Customer (KYC), Number Verification, and SIM Swap detection, aimed at enhancing security and fraud prevention.
  • Mobile Connectivity
    • Related to location: for example APIs for Device Location Verification and accessing Population Density Data.Network Quality: APIs such as Quality on Demand (QoD) and Connectivity Insights that enable dynamic adjustments to network performance.
    • Communication Services: APIs for services like SMS integration.
  • Fixed Connectivity:
    • Network Quality: Home Devices QoD API for ensuring optimal performance of devices connected through the WiFi access point provided by a telco fixed line.
  • Cloud Edge:
    • Mobile Edge Computing: Simple Edge Discovery API for leveraging edge computing resources effectively.
  • Payments:
    • Payments and Charging: Carrier Billing API for enabling the purchase of third-party digital goods and requesting payment against the user’s Mobile Operator billing system

These APIs aim to simplify access to advanced network capabilities, making them available for developers and businesses to build innovative services that address diverse market needs.

What is Project CAMARA and Its Relationship to Open Gateway

CAMARA is a project from the Linux Foundation that works closely with GSMA’s Open Gateway to ensure alignment and synergy. GSMA brings its requirements as the voice of mobile operators, while the Linux Foundation contributes its expertise in open-source community and frameworks management. Together, they bridge the gap between telecom providers and developers, ensuring business requirements are addressed through high-quality APIs.

Project CAMARA is materializing the APIs defined by GSMA, providing the technical implementation, documentation, and tools needed to deploy these APIs effectively. This collaboration ensures that the APIs are robust and aligned with real-world needs, fostering innovation and enabling developers to leverage telecom network capabilities seamlessly.

APIs Developed by CAMARA

Project CAMARA is working in 28 subprojects on API families aligned with Open Gateway’s objectives, including:

  • Quality on Demand (QoD) API
    • Functionality: Enables developers to request specific network quality-of-service levels, such as low latency or high bandwidth, for applications like gaming, streaming, or AR/VR.
    • Use Case: A streaming service can dynamically optimize video quality during live events by prioritizing network traffic.
  • Device Location API
    • Functionality: Provides real-time geolocation data of devices connected to the network, useful for logistics, navigation, and security applications.
    • Use Case: Fraud detection.
  • Number Verification API
    • Functionality: Verifies the ownership of a phone number by cross-referencing network data.
    • Use Case: A social media app using this API to confirm new user registrations.
  • Network Slice Booking
    • Functionality: Ability to reserve, provision, and delete a slice with customized SLA assurance, service duration, expected covered locations.
    • Use Case: High-priority traffic (e.g., remote surgical operation).

The APIs are REST-based, using JSON as the payload format and defined using OpenAPI Specification (OAS) 3.0. They are secured through OpenID Connect on top of OAuth 2.0, ensuring robust authentication and authorization mechanisms.

Differentiating Northbound APIs in CAMARA

CAMARA categorizes customer-facing northbound APIs into three distinct types:

  1. Service APIs: Intended for end consumers and integrated by developers to invoke specific telco capabilities.
  2. Service Management APIs: Designed to manage or retrieve data about Service APIs during application runtime, such as checking service availability or performance.
  3. Operate APIs: Operational and maintenance APIs provided to channel partners, including service provisioning, performance monitoring, fault ticketing, and exchanging product catalog or pricing information. This type of APIs is out of scope of CAMARA.

CAMARA is focused on defining and documenting northbound Service APIs, which are designed to be common across different underlying network technologies. These APIs aim to hide the complexity of the network while providing accessible functionality. Beneath this abstract layer, multiple technology-specific APIs still exist, such as 3GPP APIs, Broadband Forum APIs, and ETSI MEC APIs. The layer bridging northbound and southbound APIs consists of transformation functions, which perform aggregation and mediation. These transformation functions are not delivered by CAMARA; instead, CAMARA provides examples as references. The responsibility for implementing these transformations lies with telcos, who can adapt them based on their specific requirements and operational constraints.

Developer Tools Provided by CAMARA

To drive adoption, CAMARA offers various developer tools, including:

  1. API Definition and Documentation: Source API schemas and developer guides for understanding and using the APIs effectively.
  2. SDKs and Libraries for Different Languages: Facilitating API integration across multiple development environments.
  3. Exemplary Implementations of Transformation Functions: Reference implementations for mapping northbound to southbound APIs.
  4. Test Plans, Cases, and Tools: Ensuring the reliability and performance of the APIs.
  5. Reference Architecture for Service APIs: Providing a blueprint for CAMARA Service APIs architecture.
  6. Standard API Lifecycle, Development, and Test Process: Defining the common best practices for all CAMARA APIs.

These tools lower the barrier to entry for developers, but they don’t guarantee widespread usage or the creation of groundbreaking applications. The real challenge lies in fostering a robust ecosystem around these APIs.

The Real Impact of Open Gateway and CAMARA for Telco Service Providers

For telco service providers, the Open Gateway and CAMARA initiatives offer a pathway to diversify revenue streams and digitize their services. By exposing network capabilities through APIs, telcos can potentially position themselves as key enablers in the digital ecosystem. However, this is not without challenges.

  1. Addressing Low ROI on 5G: While these APIs could help monetize network capabilities, they may not be enough to offset the low ROI from 5G deployments. Success depends on the development of compelling new services that leverage these APIs.
  2. Fostering Adoption: Standardization and tools are only the first step. Driving adoption requires significant outreach, collaboration with developers, and co-creation of services.
  3. Creating Value: The APIs’ impact will ultimately depend on their ability to enable truly innovative services. Without a clear use case that resonates with end customers, the promise of these initiatives might fall short.

Conclusion

While GSMA’s Open Gateway and Project CAMARA present exciting opportunities, they should be seen as part of a larger effort to modernize and monetize telco networks. This effort must also be preceded by broader adoption of connectivity services orchestration, which is essential for enabling seamless integration and management of network capabilities. The true potential of network APIs will only be realized if telcos and developers collaborate to build meaningful, customer-centric applications on top of these APIs. For now, they are promising steps forward but not guaranteed game-changers.