Telecommunication operators need to embrace enterprise efforts around APIs and IoT if they want to maximize their 5G network monetization efforts, according to a recent report from Juniper Research, which added those efforts will be part of a $900 billion global telecommunications market in 2024.

The analyst firm explained that work around APIs and IoT will be based on increased investment in cloud technologies. This will, in turn, allow those operators to more broadly support API efforts to better manage IoT services over 5G networks.

Juniper Research specifically cited the use of cloud technologies to support APIs that adhere to the open source Camara project. This includes industry work around the GSMA Open Gateway initiative.

The Camara project was created by the Linux Foundation and industry trade group GSMA in early 2022. It was targeted at standardizing telecom API efforts across cloud platforms in an attempt to gain greater support from the developer community.

The Camara project provided the basis for the GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative, which was unveiled in early 2023. That initiative is targeted at standardizing network APIs that the telecom industry can offer to the developer and application community to simplify revenue-generating interactions.

That work has so far resulted in some progress, highlighted by industry led cross-carrier API interoperability work conducted earlier this year by operators like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile US and SoftBank.

Despite that work, industry observers did note a lack of buzz around these efforts during the recent MWC Barcelona 2024 event put on by GSMA.

“It’s been noticeably quiet this year,” Dan Hays, partner at consulting firm PwC, noted during a press briefing at the event. “There hasn’t been a lot of new news about the formation of APIs. There are some operators who have gotten together to try and make APIs happen, but after last year’s big splash at the start of Mobile World Congress, it was sort of deafeningly silent to not hear about it this year.”

The IoT opportunity

Juniper Research’s Benjamin Clark did note that “despite the investment into new technologies, strategies to monetize networks via mobile subscribers have fallen short,” adding that “future business models must create value for enterprises and new revenue streams that monetize via enterprise activities.”

One of those models the firm pointed to was IoT, which has received a potential boost from the deployment of 5G technologies “owing to the high degree of software‑defined processes allowing the swift deployment of APIs.”

Some of this work is focused on the evolving 5G reduced capacity (RedCap) technology standard, which is also known as NR-Light. This standard was introduced as part of the 3GPP Release 17 specification.

The RedCap specification itself limits spectrum use to 20 megahertz for sub-6 GHz bands and 100 megahertz for millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum. This allows for simpler and smaller antenna designs with one transmitter and one or two receivers, unlike the more complex multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) antenna designs required for full-feature 5G new radio (NR) devices like smartphones. This allows RedCap to reduce power requirements.

While that specification and technology work is important, Juniper Research added that the ecosystem needs to build out and align on the software and cloud infrastructure in order to spark a return on investment.

“However, to maximize this growth, operators must provide APIs that enable real-time management of devices, remote configuration and integration with third-party solutions,” Juniper Research recommends. “This will position operator networks well to capitalize on the opportunity for IoT connectivity revenue.”

That connectivity revenue is predicted to surge from $10 billion in 2023 to $23 billion by 2028.