Exposing Telecoms APIs Camille Mendler Dimitris Mavrakis Informa Telecoms & Media Survey results December 2012

Exposing Telecoms APIs

Camille Mendler

Dimitris Mavrakis

Informa Telecoms & Media

Survey results

December 2012

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/telcoAPIs

What is an API?

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 up time to consumption

3. Stimulates innovation• Supports mashups: the combination of APIs

to create a new application

2

‘APIs are how people get to your business.’Sam Ramji, Apigee

2 December 2012

© Informa UK Ltd. All rights reserved.www.informatandm.com

Picture: flickr/droetker0912


Informa’s Exposing Telecoms APIs survey

3

Goals• Which telecoms APIs are valued?• Is demand rising?• Who is involved?

Results• 369 respondents• 72% already directly involved in the API ecosystem

Method• Online survey, November 2012

Telecom operator

35%

Software de-veloper / ven-

dor22%Network in-

frastructure vendor

12%

Integrator / consulting

firm10%

Cloud services provider

6%

Device / module / chipset maker

4%

Content producer / vendor / owner

3%

API broker/ aggregator /

distributor3%

Other*6%

Exposing Telecoms APIs: Survey respondents

n= 369Source: Informa Telecoms & Media, Exposing Telecom APIs survey, 2012

*Broadcaster, regulator/government, academia/research

December 2012© Informa UK Ltd. All rights reserved.

www.informatandm.com


Survey respondents by geography

4 December 2012


Respondents from 60 countries

• Balanced between developed

and emerging economies

• Notable response from Africa Western Europe31%

Asia Pacific20%

North America

15%

Africa13%

Eastern Europe and CIS

9%

Latin America

7%

Middle East5%

Exposing Telecoms APIs: Survey respondents by geography

n= 369Source: Informa Telecoms & Media, Exposing Telecom APIs survey, 2012


Highlights

5 December 2012


• Two-thirds of operators already have an API initiative under way• 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 telecoms 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.


Exposing APIs is becoming the rule

6

A flood of new telecoms APIs is set to happen in 2013. December 2012


Base: Telecom operator respondents (n= 126)Source: Informa Telecoms & Media, Exposing Telecom APIs survey, 2012

35% no plans30% launched35% under development

Telecoms operators: Are you developing your own APIs?

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It’s a truly global trend

7 December 2012


Lebanon

Malaysia

Developed-market telcos are active

So are many in emerging markets

IndonesiaKenya


Telecoms APIs: They’re not just for SMS

8

Other

Number portability

Unified communications

Social networking

Security/identity mgmt

Device management

Location/presence

Billing

Messaging

18%

28%

29%

30%

34%

37%

52%

66%

66%

Telecom operators: APIs on offer

% of respondents

• Account management/provisioning• API for B2B2C operations (ex contact APIs)• Behavior management• Call control, Micropayment, credit transfer• Call management• Customer-service management• Eligibility• Interactive TV• Inventory management• Mobile payment• M2M, digital commerce and advertising• Predictive medicine• Service activation

Although the top three are no surprise, operators’ API portfolios are diversifying.

Base: Telecoms-operator respondentsalready active in API ecosystem (n=83)

Source: Informa Telecoms & Media, Exposing Telecoms APIs survey, 2012




Telecoms APIs are in demand

9

• A third of nontelco respondents already use telecoms APIs

• 40% plan to use telecoms APIs

• But one-fifth aren’t aware of telecoms API capabilities

Other

They have become irrelevant due to similar offerings from nontelco

companies

They are valuable but can be replaced

They are critical for the market

3%

11%

37%

49%

Nontelcos: What’s your view of APIs provided by telecoms operators?

However, for telcos, being needed is not the same as being paid for their APIs. December 2012


Base: Non-telco respondents involved in the API ecosystem (n=192)Source: Informa Telecoms & Media, Exposing Telecom APIs survey, 2012


Appetite for telecoms APIs will grow

10

APIs will need to adapt to hypermobile environments; economy in dataconsumption and battery use will be important capabilities.

Demand levels will stay the same

Demand will drop, APIs from nontelco firms will dominate

Demand will grow because of ongoing mobilization of Web/

cloud

8%

17%

75%



Nontelcos: How will demand for telecoms APIs evolve over the next two years?


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Today: Billing tops telecom API needs

11

Other

Device capability discovery

Presence and IM

Security

UC and related call control

M2M

SMS/MMS

Location

Identity/subscriber data management

Billing/payments

25%

13%

16%

20%

20%

20%

26%

28%

46%

61%

Nontelcos: Which telecoms APIs are most valuable?

% of respondents

• Airtime top-up• Data roaming• Device configuration• Mobile money• Number portability• Prioritization• QoS• RCS service APIs• SIM/UICC APIs• Voice/video calling

Although priorities are broadly aligned, telecoms operators believe that their billing and M2M APIs are more valuable than nontelcos give them credit for.





Future: Two-thirds want access to telco big data

12

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

Managing prepaid data roaming and interstandard roam-ing (e.g. LTE)

Providing a virtual office-in-a-box to small businesses (e.g. UC, virtual desktop, business apps)

Automating access to cloud-based storage and compute resources (e.g. IaaS)

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

Exposing subscriber, device, app and network analytics to preferred partners (e.g. Big Data)

40%

43%

54%

59%

70%

Nontelcos: Which other telecoms APIs have high potential?

Respondents



Base: Nontelco respondents involved in the API ecosystem (n=192)Source: Informa Telecoms & Media, Exposing Telecoms APIs survey, 2012


Perceptions of telcos’ biggest challenges vary

13 December 2012


Other

Oversupply from alternative API suppliers

Evolution of WebRTC can replace many APIs, telco differentiation

Speed of API and service evolution is too fast

Unclear and complex value proposition

Lack of clear business case

2%

34%

25%

28%

32%

50%

9%

24%

25%

35%

40%

43%

What challenges do telecom operators face in monetizing APIs?Nontelcos Telcos

Respondents

Telecoms operators are worrying more about their competition than about how they can differentiate, but sustainable business models are unclear to all.

Base: Respondents from telecoms operators (n=101), nontelcos involved in API ecosystem (n=192)Source: Informa Telecoms & Media, Exposing Telecoms APIs survey, 2012


What are the biggest issues? Some out-takes

14 December 2012


“Inconsistent APIs between carriers are off-putting to developers, especially for enterprise applications.”

API broker

“APIs are not telcos’ strong suit, and it’s really thenimbleness and rapid evolution that makes it tough for telcos to keep up.

“Fragmentation by creating various universal coalitions/standards, but they never work.

“A developer needs to know that their messages will get delivered regardless of the carrier the user has.”

Cloud service provider

“It is mandatory that telcos expose standardized APIs (e.g. Parlay X, or extensions for billing).

“It is a major missed opportunity that Telcos did not agree on APIs to offer features that OTTs cannot have (e.g. billing, QoS).”

Integrator

“Make APIs as easy to use as possible. Avoid making developers’ lives miserable (e.g. keep an eye on what Twilio or Voxeo have done on simplifying voice APIs ).”

Software developer



Awareness of telecoms API initiatives is poor

15

Note: Others cited include Alcatel-Lucent New Conversation APIs, Sprint Developer Program, Tropo, Twilio, Vodafone Betavine, WAC.



Base: Respondents from telecoms operators (n=126), software firms (n=77)Source: Informa Telecoms & Media, Exposing Telecoms APIs survey, 2012

Telenor CPA

DTAG Developer Garden

AT&T ACS

Orange Partner

Telefonica BlueVia

GSMA OneAPI

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

16%

28%

37%

43%

46%

44%

7%

2%

3%

3%

1%

21%

Software firms: Telecom API initiat-ives recognized

Heard of it Worked with it

Respondents

Telenor CPA

DTAG Developer Garden

AT&T ACS

Orange Partner

Telefonica BlueVia

GSMA OneAPI

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

19%

31%

37%

43%

33%

44%

3%

2%

3%

6%

9%

20%

Telecoms operators: Telecoms API initiatives recognized

Heard of it Worked with it

Respondents

Telecom API initiatives are fragmented – and mostly inward-facing.


Telecoms operators don’t want to lose ‘control’

16

Telecoms operators want to manage their API ecosystem.

No, only selling directly to our developer

community and enter-prise customers, 66%

Yes, looking for widest possible distribution

options, 28%

Yes, looking for a single partner to manage APIs for

us globally; 6%

Are you seeking partners to market your APIs?

Base: Telecoms-operator respondentsalready active in API ecosystem (n=83)





What should telcos do to be successful?

17

To succeed, telcos must market APIs beyond their direct sphere of control. December 2012


Base: Nontelco respondents involved in the API ecosystem (n=192)Source: Informa Telecoms & Media, Exposing Telecoms APIs survey, 2012

They will never be successful, because of the strength of existing competition

Become trusted brokers of their own and third-party APIs

Focus on developing their own Web-standard APIs to improve their own services

Outsource API monetization to a trusted partner

Ally with other operators to sell APIs globally

5%

18%

20%

26%

26%

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


For telcos, APIs are part of a wider transformation

Telcos must avoid putting APIs into another operational silo.

OSS

BSS

Policy

Basestations

Serverfarms

Telecoms

IT

‘Cloud’

APIs

SDN

VirtualizationVerticalization

Standardizedhardware

18

‘Big Data’




Final thoughts

19 December 2012


• APIs are becoming the common currency of the digital economy

• Telecoms operators must offer APIs in order to trade

• Telecoms APIs have a strong and growing role in the post-PC world

• Their subscribers remain their key asset

• Success lies in wide telecoms API distribution

• Telecoms operators can’t do it alone

• Direct monetization of telecoms APIs remains questionable

• Consequential benefits need further validation

Picture: flickr/droetker0912


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For more information:

Camille Mendler Dimitris MavrakisPrincipal Analyst Principal [email protected] [email protected] Twitter: @cmendler Twitter: @dmavrakis

mailto:[email protected]



https://twitter.com/cmendler

https://twitter.com/dmavrakis


Documents

Exposing Telecoms APIs Camille Mendler Dimitris Mavrakis Informa Telecoms & Media Survey results December 2012