Nokia is jumping on the network API bandwagon, unveiling its network-as-code platform and developer portal that are targeted at helping communication service providers (CSPs) monetize their 5G network investments, with Dish Network signed on as an initial platform partner.

The package includes an SDK, network API documentation, a “sandbox” to create software code, code snippets that can be included in applications, and developer analytics to track usage. The commercial package will be available later this year.

Shkumbin Hamiti, GM of Nokia's network monetization platform business unit, explained in a press briefing that the first APIs being provided through the platform include quality of service on demand, slice management, slice selection, device location and device insights, with plans to add network insights and IP management before the platform launches.

Hamiti explained that the package is based on tech standards developed through different industry initiatives. This includes the GSMA Open Gateway initiative, which was unveiled at this year’s MWC Barcelona 2023 event, and the Linux Foundation-hosted CAMARA Project. Nokia contributes to both projects.

“In order to win in this particular market with developers, the CAMARA initiative and Open Gateway are necessary but not sufficient,” Hamiti said. “You need to have the developer experience offered to them, and that is what is really important for the telco industry to get right, but CAMARA will just make it very simple to aggregate across the operators. And then even for the operators that want to open up these to the developers, the developers would have a good understanding of those APIs.”

Hamiti added that the Nokia platform “is fully compatible with CAMARA. … I think that has to be very clear. But there will be APIs that are different, maybe not standardized in CAMARA, which is very normal, and what we will see from all the platform players out there.”

Nokia will use the platform to act as the middle layer between developers and the operators.

“Our default business model here is building a default model to be an aggregator across CSPs globally. And in that context, a revenue-share model is the most natural business model to address this opportunity,” Hamiti explained. “However, there will always be some specific cases and specific deployments when we would actually take another approach business-model wise, but the default one is the revenue-share model.”

The platform is designed to be multivendor so that it can interact with other API models and network connections already being used by an operator.

Dish Network has signed a memorandum of understanding to tap into the platform. Nokia has been a large part of Dish Network’s greenfield cloud-native 5G network deployment. Hamiti also noted that the vendor was actively working to onboard five other service providers “as we speak … and we hope to increase that number to significantly higher by the end of 2024.”

The platform broadly targets the ongoing challenge for operators in monetizing their significant 5G network deployments, a notion repeatedly cited by industry analysts.

“Thus far, the 5G era has been playing out very similarly to the 4G era, when [communication service providers] invested hundreds of billions of dollars in spectrum and network infrastructure and realized paltry ROI as the majority of the new value from those investments went to over-the-top players, most notably hyperscalers,” Chris Antlitz, principal analyst at Technology Business Research, wrote in a recent research note.

Hamiti thinks the vendor's platform is key for operators moving forward.

"I believe that we are now at a critical point where opening up the telco networks to application developers is not only a much more commercially viable concept today, but it is a key success factor for monetizing 5G assets," Hamiti said. He added, "I sometimes even dare to say that it's a key element in ensuring the sustainable future of the telco industry."

Nokia rival Ericsson announced a similar platform last week, which included a deal with German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom. Hamiti said that while he had not looked too closely at that arrangement, it did show continued momentum from the operator community.

“What was really good in the announcement was that it showed the willingness of the CSPs to open up, which is extremely good news for us,” Hamiti said of Ericsson's announcement. “And in that sense, when you also look at the announcement that CAMARA had, it shows that the willingness to open up and go into this direction is gaining momentum and that's really good news for us.”

Hamiti noted that the platform is initially being targeted at these public network cases, but also could help further bolster Nokia’s already established position in the private network space.

“This platform naturally extends to our private wireless deployments, making it easier for all those system integrators that operate those private wireless deployments to actually take advantage of the capabilities that come from the simplification there,” Hamiti said.

Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark recently stated the vendor ended the second quarter of this year with more than 635 private wireless customers. That worked out to solid growth compared to the 595 customers he claimed the vendor had at the end of Q1.