Deutsche Telekom, O2 Telef nica and Vodafone are launching SIM Swap and Number Verify APIs on the Vonage platform tackling online fraud and are also working with Siemens Energy on Augmented Reality Quality-On-Demand testsBARCELONA, 26 February, 2024: As part of the global GSMA Open Gateway initiative, Germany's three main mobile operators - Deutsche Telekom, O2 Telef nica and Vodafone - today announced the commercial launch of a new service designed to help app developers and enterprises tackle online fraud and protect the digital identities of mobile customers.
The network APIs represent a new business model for the German operators by bringing these network capabilities to developers and enterprises to improve existing services or create new services. The German mobile industry expects today's announcement to accelerate the growth of digital services and apps, by ensuring they integrate seamlessly with national mobile networks, as well as hundreds of others around the world.
The two network APIs (Application Programmable Interfaces) are available in the CAMARA standard and can help mobile commerce and financial institutions develop new services to combat digital fraud and protect Germany's mobile subscribers. For example, identification for logging in to user accounts of websites and apps can now run automatically in the background via number verification instead of two-factor authentication, where customers receive a one-time password by SMS and must manually enter it.
The three operators are working with technology partner Vonage, part of Ericsson, to make the APIs available to enterprise developers. Vonage is already working together with its customer, Vinted, Europe's leading international online C2C marketplace dedicated to second-hand fashion, to integrate these new APIs.
Launched at MWC Barcelona a year ago, the GSMA Open Gateway is a common and open framework between operators to make it easier for app developers, enterprises and cloud providers to build safer apps and services that seamlessly communicate with each other. This is done through single, programmable, access points to mobile networks known as APIs. From Argentina to China, the USA to Australia, 47 mobile operator groups worldwide, representing 239 mobile networks and 65% of global connections are already part of the initiative.
Improving online security and tackling mobile fraud
Fraud prevention is one of the most important issues that app developers in every market are looking to address right now, with fraudulent misuse and fake accounts representing a major threat to their business models.
The new Open Gateway APIs launched today will allow developer teams and partners to create new intelligent layers of customer authentication, verification, and security within mobile phone networks.
The new services will also make online authentication simpler and faster for online customers, as mobile applications, cloud services and connectivity networks will all be interoperable through the APIs.
The APIs to be introduced by German operators are:
Number Verify: Is commercially launched and will be used to verify a user's mobile number by providing the next generation of strong authentication and user experience. It is a simple evolution path for any business that uses mobile numbers and SMS One-Time-Passwords. Instead of relying on SMS, Number Verify can be seamlessly and automatically activated to verify a user's identity. This not only enhances the user experience but also mitigates potential issues, such as users not receiving an SMS or facing difficulties due to limited familiarity with technology.
SIM Swap: Is available for developer's preview and will be used to check whether a given phone number has recently changed SIM cards. This helps mitigate account takeover attacks, in which fraudsters take control of the account owner's SIM card using social engineering techniques and stolen personal data. For example, at the time of a financial transaction, a financial institution can check whether the relationship between the customer's phone number and SIM Card has been recently changed, helping them decide whether to approve the transaction or not.
German operators work with Siemens Energy to test Quality on Demand API
German operators are already working on additional APIs and are also testing Quality-on-Demand (QoD) APIs. The mobile industry hopes to enable new services around augmented reality, robotics, commercial drone use, and immersive online gaming, through these APIs, by ensuring data connections are optimized to achieve constant and reliable connections, even with lower latency.
One business partner who Deutsche Telekom, O2 Telef nica and Vodafone are testing QoD APIs with is Siemens Energy. Siemens Energy operates in more than 90 countries and supports customers across the energy sector. On-site technicians are using Microsoft HoloLens 2 and Remote Assist, an augmented reality application. The application displays critical information and guidance directly in the technicians' field of view. With these tools, remote experts can support the technicians and help solve complex problems.
Siemens Energy is using the APIs to perform virtually assisted remote maintenance that requires consistently high network quality to enable broad deployment even in locations without stable connectivity.
The Quality-on-Demand network API is improving the daily work of our experts. Our remote engineers can now interact through the augmented headsets with minimal delay, in the best resolution. This ensures that they can provide the best possible advice to their colleagues on site and increase customer satisfaction, said Mark Schaefer, Siemens Energy Vice President IT Business. By ensuring a quality connection, we're improving our maintenance turnaround times while reducing
