Howard Buskirk

Making money has to be the goal when providers expose their application programmable interfaces (APIs), experts said during a Mobile World Live webinar on Wednesday. Open APIs are a growing focus of carriers (see 2404160065) and of the GSMA (see 2402260054). “Monetization is really the end goal,” said Peter Jarich, head of GSMA Intelligence. Operators need to expose network capabilities in a consistent way, he said. Consistency is “particularly important” because that leads to interoperability, he said. That allows carriers to “monetize those network capabilities that they built out in a transparent way” so that developers don’t have to go to every operator and “figure out how to integrate with them” and “start from scratch with every single operator they want to work with,” he said. When APIs are exposed consistently, you get the scale that’s attractive to developers, Jarich said. The industry is seeing “traction” since GSMA launched its API Open Gateway initiative last year (see 2302270069), he said. Carriers responsible for nearly 70% of worldwide connections are focused on open APIs, he said. Security is a top concern of providers, and it’s not surprising that many open APIs are focused on security and anti-fraud efforts, Jarich said. GSMA surveys show that operators aren’t just joining the open gateway initiative but are exposing their APIs, he said. Providers are building out fiber and 5G networks against the backdrop of challenging economic conditions and shrinking profit margins, said Ana Redondo, product strategy lead in the Networks Division at telecom tech company Amdocs. “There’s very intense competition worldwide,” she said. “It isn’t an easy environment to operate in,” she said. Carriers are trying to reduce costs and grow core revenues where possible, she said. 5G hasn’t worked as well as carriers hoped, but fixed wireless access “has proven to be very successful,” she said. Open APIs can put carriers “in a far more competitive position,” she said. Carriers have a lot of assets they can monetize in the data that they have, their data centers and edge capacity. Carriers are asking how they can expose everything they do as APIs, she said. It’s a “fundamental shift,” but it puts providers “closer to how the cloud vendors work,” she said.

Broadband access, equity and deployment program funding is flowing more slowly than expected and likely won’t start in mid-2025 as originally expected, Diana Eisner, USTelecom vice president-policy and advocacy, said during a Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy webcast Wednesday. Most of the money will start to flow in mid-2026 or later, she predicted. It could even be the second half of 2026, she said.

The U.S. is reaching an inflection point where some bands will be available only for sharing, said Derek Khlopin, deputy associate administrator-spectrum planning and policy in the NTIA Office of Spectrum Management. During an RCR Wireless private networks forum Tuesday, Khlopin said the national spectrum strategy discusses spectrum dynamic sharing many times, and that’s not a surprise. Khlopin, who is coordinating NTIA’s work on the strategy (see 2405060051), said, “I don’t think we really have a choice."

T-Mobile will buy “substantially all” of UScellular’s wireless operations in a deal valued at about $4.4 billion, including $2 billion in assumed debt, the companies said Tuesday. The transaction includes about 30% of UScellular spectrum and all the company’s wireless customers and stores. UScellular will remain a tower business. Both companies agreed to a $60 million breakup fee if they back out of the deal. T-Mobile said the transaction is likely to close in mid-2025.

The FCC expanded the focus of its test lab security NPRM to ask additional questions about the supplier’s declaration of conformity (SDoC) process for obtaining equipment authorization. Commissioners approved the NPRM unanimously Thursday as officials discussed this change (see 2405230033). The NPRM was posted Friday. It proposes barring test labs from entities on the agency’s “covered list” of unsecure companies from participating in the equipment authorization process. In addition, it proposes taking other steps to bolster U.S. security. The final version adds a paragraph not included in the draft on SDoC issues that would potentially broaden the reach of revised rules. “Our current rules on authorization of equipment through the SDoC process do not require that any requisite testing of equipment be conducted by an accredited, FCC-recognized test lab,” the NPRM asserts: To “test labs in which entities identified on the Covered List have certain direct or indirect ownership interests or control do not participate in our equipment authorization program, we seek comment on whether the Commission also should require that all equipment authorized pursuant to the SDoC process be tested by accredited and FCC-recognized test labs.” The NPRM explains that the SDoC program is used for equipment that doesn’t have a radio transmitter but includes digital circuitry. It cites as examples computer peripherals, microwave ovens, industrial, scientific and medical equipment, power supply devices, LED light bulbs and TV interface devices. All the commissioners except Nathan Simington produced a written statement attached to the NPRM.

National Cyber Director Harry Coker told the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee the Biden administration is focusing on cybersecurity in space and strengthening internet routing security. Meeting virtually late Thursday, NSTAC also received an update from cloud-service providers on a pending report about baseline security offerings that was initially expected to be finished this month (see 2312070053).

FCC commissioners approved 5-0 an NPRM Thursday that proposes barring test labs from entities on the agency’s “covered list” of unsecure companies from participating in the equipment authorization process. In addition, the FCC clamped down on political robocall violations. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, working with Commissioner Brendan Carr, proposed the lab rules (see 2405020071).

T-Mobile views the loss of the affordable connectivity program as a larger concern for cable than for the wireless industry, CEO Mike Sievert said Tuesday during a J.P. Morgan financial conference. “Our operating assumption is that it goes away,” though there could be a “Hail Mary” to restore the program, he said (see 2405210056). “I do not believe [ACP's ending] will result in people disconnecting their mobile service,” Sievert added. He stressed the importance of Congress reauthorizing the FCC’s auction authority, which, like ACP, lawmakers are considering. “Our nation's competitiveness depends upon our networks being the best in the world, and we can't afford to sit and watch while other countries ... deploy spectrum in a smarter way,” he said. T-Mobile has the spectrum it needs short term and has yet to deploy “in a material way” the licenses it bought in the C-band auction, he said. “We have lots of room to run” and “we’re really well positioned.” Sievert said that while T-Mobile is investing in fiber (see 2404250047) the carrier is happy with its current business model and loves being “the nation's leading mostly wireless pure play company.” In addition, Sievert said he’s not worried about a potential downturn in the consumer wireless market. “Doesn't matter whether the market is rapidly growing or not because most of our business comes from share taking,” he said: “If the market is rapidly growing … we'll partake in that. If it's growing more slowly, we won't be harmed.”

Sweden leads the world in alternatives to GPS and other global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that offer the precise timing services needed for 5G, speakers said Wednesday during a Mobile World Live webinar. Sweden’s approach includes launching the nonprofit-owned Netnod, which the government and operators fund. In the U.S., questions have been raised on Capitol Hill about carrier reliance on GNSS (see 2403120073).

AT&T needs freedom to address its copper network, including parts that are more than 100 years old, but regulation requires that the network keep operating, Chris Sambar, executive vice president-technology operations and head of network, said Tuesday during an AT&T Policy Forum. Sambar said he plans meetings at the FCC this week when he will discuss the cost for AT&T and other carriers of keeping copper lines operating.