Telecom Argentina and OSS vendor Intraway have announced plans to establish a joint digital company to create a platform that allows regional CSPs to monetise their networks using Open APIs under the GSMA Open Gateway initiative.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed by both companies, the planned new JV will develop a cloud-native, multi-tenant Open Gateway platform that other Latin American CSPs can use to securely and scalably expose their network APIs and create new revenues.
The Telecom Argentina-Intraway JV will also provide consulting services for API integration, and product design and architecture.
The new company ultimately wants to position itself as the main partner for operators in Latin America to leverage the GSMA’s Open APIs and the Open Gateway initiative, as well as Telecom Argentina’s experience with developing Open APIs, said Telecom Argentina CEO Roberto Nobile.
"The objective of this joint venture is for regional operators to accelerate the adoption of this new standard, leveraging the responses and solutions we have already applied in Telecom,” Nobile said in a statement. "This joint venture marks a milestone not only in boosting the digital economy and the Open Gateway standard in Latin America but also represents a key step in our strategy to consolidate ourselves as a technological hub and continue expanding our operations beyond the footprint of our networks.”
Telecom Argentina – which also has operations in Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile – joined the Open Gateway initiative in June 2023. Since then, it has launched its first in-house developed API, SIM Swap, which it says is in “an advanced testing phase with fintech clients worldwide”.
The telco is also working on other APIs focused on security and combating fraud, such as number verification, device status, and device location, some of which will be included in the Telecom-Intraway platform.
"This strategic alliance with Telecom Argentina represents a unique opportunity to democratize and expand direct access to operators’ mobile networks for banks, e-commerce, digital wallets, transportation, governments, and many other industries, allowing them to innovate and offer more secure, tailor-made, and efficient services,” said Lucas Lodeiro, CTO of Intraway and interim CEO of the new JV.
Telecom Argentina and Intraway plan to commercially release the first version of their joint solution during the second quarter of this year.