Pioneering Telecom's Future: Deutsche Telekom's MACE and the Unity of Global API Integration
May 02, 2024
Evan Kirstel
Get ready to be whisked away into the dynamic fusion of AI and APIs within the telecom universe as we host Peter Arbiter of Deutsche Telekom. Our latest exchange with Peter is a treasure trove of insights, showcasing Deutsche Telekom's innovative stride with MACE, an initiative that's reshaping how we interact with telecom networks. Discover the myriad ways API development is unlocking a realm of possibilities, from fraud prevention to enriched network insights, and learn why the roll-out of 5G is more than just faster internet—it's a gateway to unprecedented innovation and customer-centric services.
As we navigate the collaborative landscape of the telecom industry, we uncover the pioneering efforts of Camara—a project that's rallying over 300 companies towards a harmonized API ecosystem. This episode unravels how this synergy is not only speeding up the innovation clock but is also tackling the intricate web of consent management and data privacy head-on. You'll get a front-row seat to discussions on the vital role of security in an era where open networks are the norm, and how these collaborations signify more than just technological advancements—they're a testament to the power of global unity in driving the future of telecommunications. Join us for a session that's as enlightening as it is essential for anyone looking to grasp the tomorrow of telco.
Get ready to be whisked away into the dynamic fusion of AI and APIs within the telecom universe as we host Peter Arbiter of Deutsche Telekom. Our latest exchange with Peter is a treasure trove of insights, showcasing Deutsche Telekom's innovative stride with MACE, an initiative that's reshaping how we interact with telecom networks. Discover the myriad ways API development is unlocking a realm of possibilities, from fraud prevention to enriched network insights, and learn why the roll-out of 5G is more than just faster internet—it's a gateway to unprecedented innovation and customer-centric services.
As we navigate the collaborative landscape of the telecom industry, we uncover the pioneering efforts of Camara—a project that's rallying over 300 companies towards a harmonized API ecosystem. This episode unravels how this synergy is not only speeding up the innovation clock but is also tackling the intricate web of consent management and data privacy head-on. You'll get a front-row seat to discussions on the vital role of security in an era where open networks are the norm, and how these collaborations signify more than just technological advancements—they're a testament to the power of global unity in driving the future of telecommunications. Join us for a session that's as enlightening as it is essential for anyone looking to grasp the tomorrow of telco.
More at https://linktr.ee/EvanKirstel
Speaker 1:
Hello Susanne. Today is an exciting and interesting conversation with Deutsche Telekom about the future of the telecom network. Peter, how are you?
Speaker 2:
I'm very good, I'm happy to be here today.
Speaker 1:
Okay, well, thank you, I'm happy too, and that's about as much German as we're going to do today, I'm afraid, but I'm very excited for this chat. You know met with your team at Mobile World Congress, where AI and APIs were all the rage, and I'd love to dive a little bit deeper into this topic. I think it's a fascinating discussion for telecom globally. Before that, maybe introduce yourself, peter, and your role and mission of your team within Deutsche Telekom.
Speaker 2:
Yes, I'm Peter Arbiter, as it is rightly said here in the subtitle, and I am, within Deutsche Telekom, in charge of a newly formed unit, and this is all around our capabilities, which we are exposing in a different way, and we founded a new business unit. All around that and I've got the pleasure to lead this one.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, maybe tell us about the mission of the new business unit. How do you describe yourself and what's the big idea behind it?
Speaker 2:
Why a new business unit? I guess, yeah. So we actually have started the activities a few years back, and we did start as you typically do so. In a project, you have many, many people involved out of all different areas, and then you realize that after a certain point of time, when it comes to the execution, that a project or a tribe is probably not the optimum, especially not if this is really a long lasting thing. And this is when we came up with the idea and saying this is so important for us, this is one of our big bets, this is one of our growth drivers. This probably needs to be set up in a different way, and we are calling that Magenta Business API, if you look at that from an outside perspective. Now, internally, our unit is called MACE Magenta API Capability Exposure and that describes it quite well. So it's magenta this is us, as you can see with that beautiful shirt, and API Capability Exposure is the topic, and this is how we came up with MACE.
Speaker 1:
Fascinating development in the evolution of telecom and what sparked your interest, maybe personally, in API development on the network before all of the hype and the standardization happened. How long have you been looking at this topic personally, professionally?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so actually I'm really bullish about this one, and here this is what my character to move that a little better into the camera also says I'm really bullish about that topic because that goes back to really a passion I do have about these kind of capabilities and to expose them, Because I was one of the guys back 10, 12, 15 years ago when cloud activities started in Germany. So at that point of time I tried to develop a public cloud at Deutsche Telekom.
Speaker 2:
I was not that successful to convince our managing board at that point of time. So I joined Microsoft and was in charge of the cloud business there and ramped up cloud. And now, if I compare what has happened in the IT industry, like 15 years ago when disaggregation of IT services started at a larger scale, this is what we are now entering as a new phase for the telco industry, and this is why I'm so intrigued about this.
Speaker 1:
Fantastic and why now? On one hand, you could say this could have been happening years ago, a decade ago, but better late than never. But why is now a good time, a great time really, to open the network to developers and others a good time, a great time really to open the network to developers and others.
Speaker 2:
So let's look at that from two sides of that business. On the one side, because there's a customer demand, because customers continue to drive digitization forward, they automate their processes and we run that good as the telco industry in opening up our networks to be integrated in this automation, in that process.
Speaker 2:
now we have started to do so, so we are helping customers to solve some of their problems so this is why there is now also a pull from the customer side, but there's also a push from our side as the telco industry because, honestly, if we look back over the past years, every one of us invested quite some decent money into the 5G build-out and if we look back at how good we were in monetizing, were in monetizing, I have not seen too many examples where 5G was sold on top of an existing tariff typically was bundled in.
Speaker 2:
So this is, from a financial perspective, not the best thing you can do in a business case that you have a lot of investments but not that much revenue in return. So actually we as the telco industry need to ask ourselves the question if now people start talking about 6G and the future build-outs, how can we afford doing so? How do we earn our money back? And this is why, also, we are looking at that and isn't there a great chance that we offer additional services to the market which customers need and they are willing to pay for? And isn't that a great win-win situation where we have something we did not bring to market in the past and on the other side, customers who would like to integrate that into their offering, and especially now 5G, there comes a lot of additional functionality into the market. So this is why right now it makes it even more interesting and probably compared to face-to-face.
Speaker 1:
I love that. I was intrigued when you answered why? Now, because customers are demanding it. So talk about being customer centric. But behind that demand, what are the benefits those customers are seeking with API access? Maybe talk about the tangible benefits they can gain through developing apps on the network?
Speaker 2:
developing apps on the network. Yeah, let's look at these APIs and put them into two categories to better explain the additional value as customer gets. The one thing are all these APIs which provide additional information and the information which can be provided out of the network can be used in many different use cases.
Speaker 2:
So currently what is really hot is all the fraud prevention, and if I just look at the German market, there was damage generated by cybercrime a year ago of 220 billion euros 220 billion euros. So if you find ways due to information you get out of a telecom network which reduces these fraud damage, you really generate an additional value, In addition to now, these fraud prevention APIs there are many more like location tracking.
Speaker 2:
You could use location tracking for robots in the industry as an additional example. Or APIs around know your customer, not only for fraud prevention, also age verification our use cases where currently our customers have started discussing them with us. Now the second category of APIs is all around, those where you add additional functionality or you configure a network and there think about a mobile network. A mobile network is and has always been a shared resource, so the performance in that network is hard to predict because you don't know how many?
Speaker 2:
others are using that together with you at a given time. Now what if there was a kind of virtual network within that network and you were in that network all by yourself? Now, with that you can by far guarantee much clearer and better performance indicators and performance parameters and all of a sudden you can think of many, many use cases where these performance indicators are really critical. And this is the second part, and this is where we add up a huge market of additional functionality for customers.
Speaker 1:
That's fantastic. So much practical utility there. And speaking of use cases, you know a lot about the IoT business and you also probably know some of the challenges there around interoperability and standards and security and fragmentation. Do you see the API capability, kind of turbocharging IoT?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I believe they are really turbocharging them. We also had discussions about is that now cannibalization of IoT business, of IoT business? Because if there was now an API which also provides information of a device and the location of that device, is that now something where, all of a sudden, iot cases just go away? No, not at all. I believe that, first of all, iot still is mainly built on connectivity, before you add the additional functionality. Now we on the API side we build on this connectivity. This is already that not overlapping. It's building on the other's competencies.
Speaker 2:
Sure, there might be the one or other case where, as of today, you use a GPS sensor and then you provide back the information on the location and tomorrow you could do that with a network in the API. But I'd rather like to think about other new cases where you can't afford having an additional sensor because of your weight constraint. You are a drone, for example, and you would like to really limit the weight and you'd rather like to use the location information out of the network. For me, this is rather now adding to the functionality of what IoT brings to the table, and that makes it more powerful and then also more successful.
Speaker 1:
Oh, wonderful, well said. So let's talk about the challenges. You're no stranger to overcoming challenges and we saw with 5G we have this fantastic network now and with T-Mobile here in the US I'm getting amazing coverage indoor, outdoor and rural places. But it took a decade of standardization and interoperability and testing and silicon and software to bring all together. It was no small feat. What are some of the challenges that will have to be overcome with the API? Go-to-market?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and actually you already mentioned one I directly want to get started with. This is the go-to market. So if I look back at the last set of APIs, this API business isn't new. So if you look at CPaaS Communication Platform as a Service, this is around for 15 years. And if you look at the last set of APIs which were defined, these so-called mobile connect APIs, the APIs which were defined in 2015. Now it took us almost eight years to really bring them in the market, and this is exactly what is one of the challenges. I do not want to wait for eight years.
Speaker 2:
So this has to go faster, and for us to be faster as the industry, we need to do a few things differently than we've done them in the past. So, first of all, it would be really great if all of us would agree on the same set of APIs, and not the one that's in here like that and the other one that's like slightly differently, differently. I believe that this time, with Camara, we have found a new approach, which is an open source foundation project. So it's not that a lot of people sit there and do some theoretical discussions and then they ask us to do something. No, with that open source mindset, it's all around. You've got an idea. Why don't you bring your API to the table and then it's directly there and others who have the same idea just join you in co-developing.
Speaker 2:
And since we document that in GitHub, everyone can get access to that. It's not a smaller set of telcos or people who just see that somewhere. Everyone can get access to that and not just only of telcos or people who just see that somewhere is. Everyone can get access to that and not just only the telcos. If you are now a developer, if you are a system integrator and isv, they have joined the party and we have more than 300 companies um in camara and more than a thousand people working there.
Speaker 2:
So this is where that really got momentum. So time to market is the one thing, but and I already touched on the second topic we really need to ensure that we are doing that jointly as the telco industry, and I think we have really understood that. It's not about we are not competing against ourselves. This is about creating a new market. So if I look at the German market, there are mainly three operators us, then there is Telefonica and Vodafone.
Speaker 2:
It makes no sense for us to have the best API no one else has, because, at the end of the day, who would create an app for just that portion of the users in the market? So we really need to ensure that this is a joint effort. That's not about competition, but it's about building up a new ecosystem, and we have understood this one. And also we are in very good discussions that we come up with applicated APIs, so that you have just one API and that is then routed into the different networks. And that brings me to the third topic, which is a challenge, and I do not want to come up with just challenges only. This is all around content management consent management.
Speaker 2:
And that makes it to a certain extent, also somehow difficult, because consent management means that some APIs you need to get the consent of the users that you can get the information and process the information. Now, unfortunately, in countries this is sorted out differently from a legal perspective. In some countries it's considered to be legitimate interest, so we don't need the precise consent. In others you need to get customers' consent. So you have to not only understand the consent management on a global basis, you need to also ensure that the entire chain works, because typically these APIs are used in an application and the consent will be given there.
Speaker 2:
So that means consent needs to be given there, needs to be stored, and what if this device is now in a different network abroad and then the other operator has to then transport that consent? You have to store it, and what if the customer then revokes it? Then it has to go back the entire chain. So there are a few things where we are working on. The good answer is we've got them under control and we are sitting there as one team, as the telco industry. And in that particular case final sentence on this one I'm not talking as Dr Telecom, I'm talking about a representative of the telco industry who is really willing to, this time, make a difference.
Speaker 1:
Fantastic initiative. Let's talk about another topic that we must not leave as an afterthought, and that's security cybersecurity. Telecom is notoriously a target for hackers, with all the users and the data there. How can we make this whole initiative as safe as possible and avoid some of the challenges we've seen in other new initiatives out there?
Speaker 2:
So absolutely right. So it's about security and data privacy. I've just touched on this data privacy topic on the content management piece. Now, security this is also really crucial, and if you open up your networks, you really have to ensure that you open it up the right way and you really know precisely who can access your data. And and this is why we, but also the other telcos have have built a platform.
Speaker 2:
We have been ours, telephonic has built theirs, water phone is there, there's. The americans have good theirs. So in our case, it's the service exposure platform, and this one really ensures that you are allowed to use the API and you not only need to watch out that the usage is, from a security perspective, than compliant, but also that. Take the example of location information um, if you track a drone, you are probably allowed to get that information on on the second, second basis, but if you um would track a person, that's probably then a different thing where you do not want to have a tracking mechanism in place, and this is why it's a good combination of security as well as data privacy, and we have had, and we did, built in the security from scratch in our systems across the entire stack.
Speaker 1:
Fantastic. Well, let's cross fingers. I'll be at RSA conference in San Francisco next week and DEF CON and API security will be one of the many hot topics there. You know, regulation is something that the telecom industry lives through Some countries more, some less, but highly regulated industries. What does that mean in terms of network adoption of network APIs and potential barriers there?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and I've touched already on one and let me really call that out. This is, for example, the concept management piece. So we do have different interpretations around the globe and that doesn't make it easier. If you are a developer, you don't want to care about the interpretation of this one in that country or in that country actually, of this one in that country or in that country actually, you probably don't know where the user of your app is then located at and is using that, and it's really making things more complicated if it's understood in one way in that country and in a different way in that country, if it's understood differently in Europe than in the Americas. This is hard to explain to someone and I'd wish that also from a regulative perspective, we'd rather have a common view and understanding and not a regional view and understanding, because this is really almost impossible, I don't want to say, but really hard to manage.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, well said. So, from Mobile World Congress this year to Mobile World Congress 2025, where do you anticipate Camara will be? Where do you anticipate the state of this movement will be? What are your expectations or hopes when we all meet again as an industry next February?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, if we look back, let me start actually in 2023. So the first ones showed up and saying, hey, there is my API and this is the first API. Now, this year, 2024, you saw, at least on a country-wide basis, you saw two or three telcos then showing up and saying, hey, this is our joined API and with that we have covered that entire market with that one API. So in 2025, you will see that with the scale out, you will see a significantly higher coverage of relevant APIs across the globe. So I would expect there between four to six really relevant ones not that one here and the other one there four to six which are available in a vast majority of countries. And with that, if I look back at the mobile connect journey from definition to really scale out seven, eight years that won't take us that long. You will find some solutions, how aggregation, consent management, telco finder so that's the routing mechanism are done differently and this is why adoption is significantly faster. So watch out, there will be some announcements out in the next months.
Speaker 1:
I can't wait to see those and I appreciate all of your enthusiasm and excitement. It really is a radical and exciting shift for this industry. What are you personally looking forward to? Any travel or meetups or events or heads down just trying to move this whole industry forward?
Speaker 2:
There's a lot of travel in terms of travel to customers. So actually we are in the execution mode now. So on the one side it's really creating that demand and also, to a certain extent, it's also education, because if you don't know what you don't know, how should you understand your additional capabilities you have? So we are really busy on that customer, but also partner and go-to-market side. So we are discussing with system integrators, with ISVs, with the hyperscalers, the aggregators, on the future potential. So that's the one side Now. Luckily, in the past it would have probably meant to be on the road every day, but also with that format. I mean, you are in the US, I'm here in Europe and we will have an interview.
Speaker 2:
So thanks to technology, it's not always combined with physical travel. And then on the other side we are sitting together as the telco industry and try to solve these challenges, and that also keeps us busy. But, as I said, we are quite far developed in these discussions and about to get a few things done differently.
Speaker 1:
Well, it's wonderful to chat. That's what I love about this industry is the openness and the collaboration from telcos around the world to the GSMA and other initiatives like Camara. In this age of divisiveness, it's great to see. So. Congratulations on all the success onwards and upwards, and keep in touch for updates and announcements.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely, and this is why we are so bullish.
Speaker 1:
Bullish. I love it. Thanks very much, peter. Vielen Dank, bis später.