Free Mobile and Nokia Open Their Network to Developers for Innovation
▼ Summary
– Free Mobile has partnered with Nokia to join its “Network as a Code” ecosystem, opening its network’s capabilities to developers.
– The platform provides a unified API interface to simplify access to complex network functions like quality of service and authentication.
– The goal is to accelerate the market launch of new services by allowing developers to build applications without navigating underlying network technologies.
– Nokia highlights this as part of a trend to monetize networks via APIs, with over 60 global partners and use cases in sectors like banking and healthcare.
– The partnership aims to create new revenue streams for operators by exposing network functions to third parties, helping valorize 4G/5G investments.
Free Mobile has taken a significant step toward unlocking the potential of its telecommunications infrastructure by partnering with Nokia. The collaboration grants software developers streamlined access to the operator’s powerful network capabilities. This move is designed to accelerate the creation and deployment of innovative new services and applications that can leverage advanced mobile network functions in a secure, standardized manner.
The partnership integrates Free into Nokia’s “Network as Code” ecosystem, a platform built to simplify how developers and businesses create, test, and launch applications. The core idea is to provide a unified interface that abstracts the underlying complexity of network technologies. Instead of navigating intricate systems, developers can access sophisticated features like enhanced quality of service, authentication protocols, and connectivity data through simplified APIs. This abstraction layer is intended to drastically reduce development time and lower the barrier to entry for creating telecom-enabled solutions.
Nokia highlights that Free’s integration into this ecosystem underscores the growing industry momentum around API-driven network monetization. Shkumbin Hamiti, Head of Network Monetization Platform at Nokia, pointed out that the global partner network now exceeds 60 members. Use cases are expanding rapidly across diverse sectors including finance, healthcare, automotive, and entertainment. This strategy aligns with broader sector initiatives like the GSMA Open Gateway and the Linux Foundation’s Camara project, which aim to standardize telecom APIs across different operators to ensure greater interoperability and foster a more unified developer experience.
From Free’s perspective, the initiative is fundamentally about opening access and simplifying innovation. Nicolas Thomas, CEO of Free, emphasized the company’s strong interest in providing developers with a straightforward, standardized way to harness the full power of its network. He views this as a catalyst for generating new APIs and services that will benefit partners, customers, and society at large. The goal is to stimulate a wave of creativity by removing technical hurdles that have traditionally slowed development in the telecom space.
Beyond fostering innovation, there is a clear economic imperative driving this model. For network operators like Free, exposing controlled network functions to third-party developers and enterprises opens up new revenue streams. This approach is increasingly seen as a strategic lever to monetize substantial investments in 4G and 5G infrastructure. It offers a path to generate value even in a market where increased data usage does not automatically translate into proportional revenue growth for the operators themselves.
(Source: Univers FREEBOX)
