Network APIs have moved beyond the experimental stage and are now entering production. More than a technological promise, they are becoming a programmable infrastructure built on trust, enabling organizations to develop new services and business models.
Network APIs represent a fundamental shift for telecom operators, as network capabilities can now be commercialized as services for enterprises and developers. In the past, connectivity was virtually the only product operators could monetize. Today, they can generate revenue from specific network capabilities such as identity, trust, location, guaranteed quality of service, and network intelligence through pay-as-you-go models.
Another emerging trend is the orchestration of multiple APIs within a single transaction. Rather than relying on a single signal, organizations combine Number Verification, SIM Swap, Device Status, Verified Caller, and location services to build much more robust fraud prevention engines.
Organizations are not adopting network APIs simply because of the technology itself. They are implementing them to solve specific business challenges. The most sought-after benefits include fraud reduction, faster onboarding processes, frictionless authentication, high-quality streaming, more reliable AI applications, and business continuity for mission-critical operations. They also strengthen omnichannel communications platforms by incorporating identity and verification capabilities to deliver safer and more trusted customer interactions.
Today, the most mature market centers on identity, authentication, and fraud prevention services. These solutions deliver immediate ROI by helping financial institutions reduce losses while improving the customer experience.
However, from a revenue perspective, the market is still in its early stages. Omdia estimates that telecommunications network APIs will generate US$10.3 billion in revenue by 2030, with approximately half coming from subscriber identity use cases. At the same time, network quality APIs such as Quality on Demand are expected to represent an increasing share of the market.
Analysys Mason, meanwhile, estimates that the global network API market will reach US$7.6 billion by 2030, a considerably more conservative forecast than others published across the industry. According to the firm, the market's true growth potential will emerge after 2030.
Currently, 73 operator groups, representing 285 networks and covering nearly 80% of the world's mobile subscribers, have committed to Open Gateway GSMA, the global framework that standardizes these solutions.
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A new business category has recently emerged: selling trust for artificial intelligence. As AI agents begin performing tasks autonomously, they require trusted signals to make decisions. On their own, they cannot determine whether a user is legitimate, whether a SIM card has recently been swapped, whether a device is authentic, or whether a location is valid. Network APIs become precisely that trusted source.
Companies are no longer the only consumers of network APIs. The rise of agentic AI introduces a new type of consumer for these capabilities. For example, an AI agent can automatically request Quality on Demand, verify identity, increase bandwidth, and prevent fraud without human intervention.
Quality on Demand is also rapidly expanding its scope. In addition to guaranteeing critical network performance parameters such as low latency, stability, and traffic prioritization, it ensures operational continuity for drones, robotics, telesurgery, AR/VR applications, autonomous vehicles, streaming, real-time AI, and more.
Overall, the industries with the greatest opportunities include banking and fintech, media, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing.
Against this backdrop, the role of aggregators continues to grow in importance, as the market needs players capable of simplifying access. While telecom operators provide the underlying capabilities, aggregators serve as the bridge connecting those capabilities with enterprises.
Looking ahead, the challenge is to build ecosystems involving developers, partners, marketplaces, commercial models, sales channels, and a comprehensive set of developer tools that facilitate the adoption and integration of these capabilities.
Network APIs are increasingly becoming a new digital services layer that enables organizations to build identity, trust, intelligence, and differentiated experiences. The challenge now is to integrate them into innovative solutions capable of creating value for enterprises and end users.
At Plusmo, we support this evolution through a portfolio of identity protection APIs that help strengthen trust in digital transactions, reduce fraud, and accelerate the development of new services built on network capabilities.
