How Open Gateway is advancing in Latin America

Driven by GSMA, the Open Gateway initiative to allow telcos to provide services over other companies’ networks is gaining traction in Latin America and is expected to be officially launched in in Argentina soon, with an initial focus on combating fraud.

“The formal launch [of Open Gateway] for the entire Argentine market will be announced shortly,” Alejandro Martínez, head of connectivity at Telecom Argentina, told reporters.

Telecom Argentina is the operator that is pushing the adoption of Open Gateway and for this purpose it created a joint venture with solutions provider Intraway.

The launch of the Openexpand JV took place this week within the framework of an international conference hosted by business chambers ATVC and Cappsa.

The new company will offer a cloud-native platform for telecom operators to monetize their networks by facilitating their exposure as code through standardized, secure, agile and scalable application programming interfaces (APIs).

Openexpand is in talks with operators in the region to use this platform.

The first APIs available aim to help solve the fraud problem in the region. These include SIM Swap, user line verification, SIM card status and localization.

Telecom is already working with Argentine bank Galicia to explore new uses and impacts of APIs.

“We already have a local bank ready to carry out a first test and we have a stockbroker ready to start working from November,” Telecom CEO Roberto Nobile told the event.

“With the support of the central bank, we will try to reduce fraud. The three operators will be at this table to fight fraud,” he added.

Nobile also said work is underway with AWS to make the platform available on its Marketplace so that it can be used by developers globally.

EVOLUTION

Under the Open Gateway umbrella, GSMA has 19 certified APIs and 15 in development. Telecom will continue to integrate new applications tailored to the needs of the industry.

Certified and in-development APIs range from anti-fraud solutions to network quality optimization, payments, cloud and edge solutions.

“The focus is currently on fraud because it’s something that’s much more in demand in Latin America,” said Martínez.

At present, OpenGateway APIs are only commercially available in Brazil, but announcements in other countries are expected soon.

“We have Argentina and Chile on the roadmap for launches,” Lucas Gallitto, director at GSMA for Latin America, told reporters. “We’re working on the final details to make the launch happen.”

In Brazil, three operators – TIM Brasil , Vivo and Claro – have committed to the initiative and already have three Open Gateway-based APIs enabled, focused on security and fraud solutions.

According to Gallitto, Latin America is the fastest growing region for Open Gateway.