Sri Lanka’s mobile operator community today announced the commercial launch of new industry-wide network APIs, as part of the GSMA Open Gateway initiative. In doing so, they will help developers and businesses accelerate the growth of digital services and apps, by ensuring they work seamlessly with all the country’s mobile networks and hundreds of others around the world.

All four of the countries mobile operators – Bharti Airtel Lanka (Private) Limited, Dialog Axiata PLC, Hutchison Telecommunications Lanka Ltd, and SLT-Mobitel have prioritized and launched three value creating APIs: One Time Password (OTP) Validation, Device Location and Carrier Billing, giving developers and enterprises a standard way to technically and commercially reach over 21 million Sri Lankans regardless of their network operator.

As part of the GSMA Open Gateway initiative, these APIs will be locally and globally federated, meaning developers can reach new subscribers outside of Sri Lanka as Open Gateway coverage grows. The initial set of APIs are set to revolutionize the digital adoption by Sri Lankan enterprises and developers by providing a single integration that works across all four operators in the country.

GSMA Open Gateway empowers developers worldwide to create innovative services by accessing network resources. Developed in collaboration with mobile operators worldwide, the framework ensures consistent, interoperable access to mobile networks through the standards-based CAMARA repository, a Linux Foundation project. The initiative fosters collaborations among operators, industry associations, developers, and content creators while adhering to all relevant technical standards, regulations and user privacy standards. More than 36 mobile operator groups, representing 214 mobile networks and 60% of mobile connections worldwide, are now part of the initiative.

Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA, said: “Sri Lanka’s launch of commercial network APIs marks a great moment for the global GSMA Open Gateway initiative, and we welcome the progress and collaboration the country’s four operators have demonstrated. Asia-Pacific represents the largest mobile market in the world and today’s announcement shows how, together, the industry can create, enhance and bring new digital services and immersive technologies to market faster and to a wider global customer base.”

“In the same way we helped harmonize mobile voice services and enable roaming 35 years ago, I believe GSMA Open Gateway offers huge potential to unlock further value from 5G connectivity and deliver similar, significant levels of change for digital services,” he added. Commenting on the initiative MD/CEO of Airtel, Ashish Chandra said, “The dedication of Airtel Lanka in joining the GSMA Open Gateway initiative is commendable, and it’s great to see the industry moving in unison. While competition refines us, it’s shared visions like this that will shape the digital destiny of Sri Lanka”.

Commenting, Supun Weerasinghe, Group Chief Executive of Dialog Axiata PLC said, “Building on Axiata Group Berhad’s successful deployment of the GSMA Open Gateway in March 2023, Dialog Axiata is proud to be a participant in the GSMA Open Gateway initiative through our Ideamart platform capability, alongside all the other operators in Sri Lanka. This signifies a momentous leap for the industry, ushering in a new era of unparalleled digital innovation and connectivity for the nation”.

Commenting on the initiative Saumitra Gupta – CEO (Actg) of HUTCH stated “We are excited to be part of this GSMA global initiative of Open Gateway. We foresee this will indeed open up a new ecosystem for much broader opportunities and collaborations between network operators, developers and enterprises, and at far greater scale accelerate digital service innovations and experiences in the respective markets.”

Commenting on the occasion, Sudharshana Geeganage, Chief Operating Officer of Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd. said, “At SLT-Mobitel, we are delighted to be part of the GSMA Open Gateway global initiative. We believe this a significant step in promoting open standards and enabling the operators to interconnect and collaborate in the API economy. This will further strengthen the developer community, which is an integral part of the API economy, by facilitating various trusted network services and thereby unlocking opportunities in the global app markets propelling digital economy forward.”

The platform delivered by the GSMA Open Gateway initiative will enable operators to offer an exciting new and federated portfolio of services that developers can access through APIs to enhance the experience that they deliver to their users.