Nokia and Ericsson were recognized as leaders among network API platforms for internal exposure, according to a competitive ranking by ABI Research.

The intelligence firm focused on components such as strength in enabling mobile network operators to make APIs available internally for network management and orchestration; business support and operation support systems (BSS/OSS) functions; and specialized applications.

The research revealed that as 5G standalone (SA) maturity and standardization accelerate, vendors with strong internal exposure platforms are best positioned to help operators scale network automation and enterprise-ready API strategies.

“The market for internal network API exposure is moving from experimentation toward more operationally critical and commercially relevant deployments,” Larbi Belkhit, senior analyst at ABI Research, noted. “Vendors that can combine standards alignment, multivendor interoperability, monetization support, and security capabilities are establishing an early leadership advantage as operators look to simplify integration and unlock new service value without having to develop their own proprietary exposure platform.”

Nokia and Ericsson’s network API advantages

Nokia ranked No. 1 due to its leadership in both innovation and implementation. ABI Research highlighted the vendor’s multivendor Network Exposure Platform; its support for 3GPP NEF/SCEF and Camara APIs; and strong security controls.

The Finnish firm also drew plaudits for growing commercial momentum owing to 25 deployments with communication service providers (CSPs), including five customers going commercially live this year.

Ericsson ranked No. 2, supported by its Vonage business, broad exposure portfolio, support for standardized and custom APIs, more than 100 CSP deployments globally, and a developer ecosystem exceeding 1.7 million registered developers‌.

“The broader market continues to gain momentum as 5G SA commercialization begins to accelerate and operators are working to better expose their network functions to enable new services and efficiency improvements," Belkhit wrote.

However, Belkhit warned that operators still face issues such as fragmentation, pricing, regulatory diversity, inconsistent latency, and reliability that “continue to slow broader market expansion for network APIs despite strong enterprise demand for real-time applications‌.”

Nokia’s API efforts have seen it team up with Telefónica to trial the use of agentic AI to coordinate related network workflows. In a laboratory setting, the pair tested a bank fraud prevention agent that was granted access to Nokia's Network Exposure Platform, allowing it to utilize exposed network APIs and other resources in a bid to enhance its capabilities.

Ericsson, meanwhile, is buoyed by both its Vonage arm – which recently partnered with agentic vendor C3 AI to launch APIs for mobile enterprise field operations – and Aduna, the industry-expansive effort it helped spearhead.

Milestones for the Ericsson-support Aduna culminated in AT&T becoming the first to roll out standardized 5G network APIs in the U.S. in late February. The operator tapped Aduna APIs for number verification and SIM swapping, with Shawn Hakl, SVP and head of product at AT&T Business, writing at the time that the move was focused on “fostering collaboration and accelerating innovation of better customer experiences.”