AT&T is working with Colt Technology Services to provision network services using a programmatic API-to-API interface between separate software-defined networking (SDN) architectures.

The test occurred between two networks — one in the U.S. and one in Europe — and demonstrated that enterprises can provision on-demand, scalable network services across multiple locations and multiple networks, even networks from different service providers.

This is an important finding for service providers that want to sell services to enterprises. With this capability, enterprises will be able to reserve ports, order a point-to-point Ethernet service, or adjust their bandwidth requirements on demand.

The trial took place between the East Coast of the U.S. and various locations in Europe, and it combined AT&T and Colt’s on-demand network capabilities. AT&T and Colt plan to share the network-to-network interface and open API code with standards bodies and industry forums.

In July AT&T announced that the company’s Network Functions on Demand, a service that lets businesses use a single x86-based appliance to deploy virtual network functions (VNFs), was available in 76 different countries.

The Network Functions on Demand was the third service AT&T rolled out as part of its bigger Network on Demand platform. The first service was AT&T Switched Ethernet on Demand that the company now offers in 170 markets in AT&T’s 21-state territory. The second is AT&T managed Internet Service on Demand that provides individual locations with the ability to quickly provision and scale Internet connections.