Telecom APIs Highlights

We’ve got to keep looking at other industries to see API

success and translate that into Telecoms
Structure

• Telefonica case study on using product representations to manage the balance

between reuse and agility
• Telecom Italia on their API growth, from 1B to 1.5B tx per month (note this does not
include cloud service API transactions some telcos use to bump their numbers)
• iDirect (Satellite Comms) shows API are relevant in their business
• Great case study from Thomson Reuters that makes every Telco’s API platform look
several orders of magnitude slower and smaller. Highlight the growing issue of API
complexity (as discussed in the Teefonica and Telecom Italia case studies)
• Zain Kuwait shows important of BSS APIs in helping partners sell more of your
services
• Excellent review from BlueVia on what is takes to build mobile payment service
success
• Tripadvisor show the model telcos must adopt in embedding their service everywhere

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© 2010 Alan Quayle Business and Service Development
Andreas gave a great presentation on ‘product representations’ to allow fast service
innovation on top of existing telco services / assets / platforms
The ‘product representations’ deals with the challenge of where to manage the user
data for a service – in the service or in the network.
Andreas proposes a balance between the two (reuse and flexibility).
The last point is the key, the role of architects in the API-defined telco is becoming critical to
finding the balance between re-use and agility. The answers are not obvious, hence the need
for a unit like Telecom Italia’s ‘NetAPI’ group to get right balance of reuse and agility without
creating a complex mess – as we’ll see later in the Thomson Reuters case study.
Telecom Italia is one of the leading API deployments (Telefonica being another) they
have focused on using APIs internally and with existing partners.
The big news was their API traffic has grown from 1B transactions per month to 1.5B.
API Management is replacing the SDP within Telcos.
Role of APIs in the Satellite communications industry
Great example of the importance of APIs even in something as ‘old-school’ as
satellite communications
This reminded me of the role APIs play between Telecom Italia and its xVNOs
Great case study on API success
API transactions are measured in Billions a day not per year
More Telcos need to see how financial services view latency and reliability!
They over their platform costs with a membership fee (liimited competition so can get
away with that while difficult for telcos to do) and the platform is used to drive sales
Solid advice on managing the complexity we see in Telefonica and Telecom Italia as
their API programs grow. Bottom line – ‘eat your own dog food FIRST’
Many operators are finding exposing APIs from their BSS help their partners sell
more of their services.
Great, frank presentation on building payment service success
Focus on being a payment service provider NOT the long-tail
Focus on being a payment service provider across a range of media and access. BUT
to be competitive in the long term they will need to become a true payment service
provider across physical good and services, else they will be squeezed out of their
digital niche by existing payment networks.
Mobile conversations do work – especially in some segments!
Great example of the power of APIs in building a business
I think the telecom industry gets it finally – its more than public APIs
Its about embedding tripadvisor everywhere – just like a telco needs to embed their
communications everywhere
Telcos need to look at their APIs in delivering similar scale of embedding
communications everywhere
Again telcos are missing opportunities to sell their services through tripadvisor.
Tripadvisor is a great example of how to use APIs to embed their service everywhere.