Taking part in the increasing trend of network partner ecosystems opening up application programming interfaces (APIs) to the market, two of France’s leading network operators – Bouygues Telecom and Free (Iliad Group) – are to become network partners in the Aduna venture.
Launched in September 2024 comprising leading telecom operators and comms tech giant Ericsson, combining and selling network APIs globally, Aduna has the fundamental aim of accelerating the adoption and innovation of common APIs by developers on a global scale. With a vision of new applications working anywhere and on any network, it hopes to allow developers to innovate more quickly and easily.
Venture partners include América Móvil, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, e&, KDDI, Orange, Reliance Jio, Singtel, Telefonica, Telstra, T-Mobile, Verizon and Vodafone. Aduna’s developer partner platforms include Google Cloud, Infobip, Sinch and Vonage.
The consortium believes that network APIs are at the centre of a new era of opportunity for the telecom industry, with easily accessible advanced network capabilities empowering developers to create use cases across multiple sectors.
The two French operators join founding venture partner Orange in a partnership that the consortium describes as marking a major step in unlocking digital innovation opportunities across industries in France and beyond.
Moreover, in what is said to mark a “significant” milestone, the first two network APIs, SIM Swap and Know Your Customer, are planning to launch in France in spring 2025 once agreements with the two French network operators are finalised, bringing enhanced security and digital identity verification to the market.
Built on the Camara framework, the new APIs are said to be “just the beginning”, said Aduna. The planned roadmap includes additional advanced capabilities such as location verification and retrieval, network insights and quality of service – key features in high demand by enterprises seeking more secure and data-driven solutions.
“Network APIs pave the way to programmable networks for personalised and secure customer experiences leveraging connectivity data. Aduna will play an important role in simplifying global access to Camara APIs,” said Otilia Anton, director of Orange LiveNet. “We are proud of this first commercial exposure of Orange APIs on Aduna contributing to enforcing network APIs’ reach and value proposition for identity and antifraud solutions.”
Aduna CEO Anthony Bartolo said: “Aduna is thrilled to be able to provide developers with access to aggregated Camara-based network APIs from major operators in France through our developer platform providers. By making advanced network capabilities more accessible to developers, we’re fostering innovation that empowers enterprises across France to accelerate their digital transformation and strengthen their competitive advantage.”
Chrystel Abadie Truchet, telecom head of strategy, communication and development at Bouygues, said: “French major network operators joining forces with Aduna to launch network APIs is a major step in unlocking new digital innovation opportunities across industries in France and beyond.
“Bouygues Telecom is proud to be part of this project with other market leaders such as Free and Orange, and we believe this strategic partnership holds immense potential for driving digital transformation in France and abroad.”
Rui Frazao, CTO at Free – Iliad Group, added: “The partnership with Aduna is in line with Iliad Group’s strategy to democratise and accelerate the adoption of 5G Standalone and network APIs by making them accessible to developers and service providers worldwide.”
