To successfully commercialise APIs, the telecom industry must reach new customers – application developers – and sell significantly different services than traditional voice and data. We outline how telcos can meet developers where they are and identify strategies for operators to maximise their share of value creation from API capabilities.

Telcos must rethink their network API commercial strategies

To successfully commercialise APIs, the telecom industry must engage with a new customer segment – application developers – and sell significantly different services than traditional voice and data.

Our survey of application developers in November 2024 found that only 10% of them associated the term “network APIs” with a telecom or connectivity-related capability.

Meanwhile, some operators already have experience of working with application developers through existing API platforms. However, most have had little engagement with this customer group historically. The limited previous engagement between telcos and developer communities will require education and relationship building on both sides. However, as the service provider, operators must adapt their commercial and go-to-market (GTM) strategies to developers’ preferences, rather than expect developers to adapt to traditional telecom practices.

In this report we outline how telcos can meet developers where they are and identify strategies for operators that will enable them to maximise their share of value creation from API capabilities.

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Monetisation models that scale costs in parallel with adoption will be unacceptable to application developers

Source: STL Partners

This report acts a second instalment in our deep dive series examining how to monetise network APIs. The first instalment: Mobile network APIs: The opportunity beyond anti-fraud in financial services lays out three pathways to growth, which necessitate new commercial models.

Table of contents

• Executive summary
• Commercial and pricing models
• Prioritising the right go-to-market models

Related research

• Mobile network APIs: The opportunity beyond anti-fraud in financial services
• Telecom network API developer survey
• Network API monetisation forecast

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Darius Singh

Darius Singh

Consulting Director & Practice Lead at STL Partners

Darius Singh is the Consulting Director & Practice Lead at STL Partners. He has led a range of client projects within edge computing, 5G, and data analytics