The Value of Operator APIs for Developers White Paper - February 2014

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The Value of Operator APIs for Developers White Paper - February 2014
The Value of Operator APIs
for Developers
White Paper
February 2014

Copyright © 2014 GSMA
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers    1

Contents

Executive Summary                            2

1.   Background and Research Question        3

2.   Headline Results and Key Insights       5

3. Identified Assets: Detailed Results       8

4. Asset Exploitation in API Strategy       20

References                                  24

Appendix A: Research Methodology            25
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                         2

Executive Summary

Over the last couple of years the mobile app economy has been undergoing considerable
shifts of power. Traditional Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) used to “own” the complete
value chain. With the advent of smarter phones, the barrier to entry for new players
establishing application-based ecosystems was lowered substantially. Any player can provide
its assets (data, functionality, or computing resources) to these ecosystems via the concept of
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and thus add value to the ecosystem.

The purpose of this study is to find out which are the assets that only operators can offer
to developers, providing unique value, in order to strengthen the position of MNOs in this
ecosystem? The scope is not necessarily to validate established assets (such as payment,
identity or messaging) but to potentially discover other assets of value to developers. “Assets”
in this context does not only refer to capabilities exposed via APIs, but also to how these
capabilities are exposed and with which characteristics. To answer this question we deployed
a perceived use value (PUV) analysis in two phases: The first, qualitative phase, encompassed
semi-structured expert interviews to identify asset areas. Based on the results, the quantitative
second phase was designed as an online questionnaire to understand how developers value
the various assets looked at.

The main insight provided by this study is to expose a clear gap between the high perceived
value of MNO assets by developers and the low adoption rate of MNO APIs. The study
showed that MNOs do have a range of tangible and intangible assets which are perceived as
valuable by developers. However, these assets are not delivered to the market (i.e. developers)
in an optimal way, hence the low adoption rate. This insight was confirmed by both targeted
segments: long-tail and big-head developers.

Other key insights:
■■ There is a clear opportunity gap: 33% of respondents use MNO assets exposed through
   APIs today — but actually 81% perceive them as valuable.
■■ Perceived by developers as very valuable:
   – Cross-operator API collaboration (93% of developers agree).
   – Location/geo-fencing functionality (85%).
   – Getting a direct communication/feedback channel to app users
		 (within the app) (83%).
   – Access to users’ context info (83%).
   – Information about detailed connection characteristics (83%).
■■ Back-end services (e.g. cloud services) - (27%) and exploiting brand strength (22%) are
   perceived as less valuable.

In conclusion, the gap between the perceived value of operator APIs and the current adoption
rate suggests an underutilised potential here.

If MNOs define APIs as an important part of their overarching strategy, then stepping into this
field, and deploying the right developer-friendly tactics in exposing APIs seems to be a very
promising step. Furthermore, to reduce operator fragmentation and to increase attractiveness
for developers, thinking beyond one operator’s boundaries is recommended (cross-operator
API solutions).
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                               3

1. Background and Research Question

The mobile industry has undergone fundamental changes. There has been a clear shift of
power from traditional Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), who used to “own” the complete
value chain of delivering value to the end user, towards new entrants. Traditional entry barriers
into the ecosystem have been mostly removed to facilitate competition and benefit consumers.
Several groups of new entrants have taken away a considerable portion of revenues, which had
traditionally been claimed by MNOs: handset manufacturers, platform vendors, and companies
coming from the Internet domain.

There are two key milestones that have influenced the current landscape: First, Apple’s
introduction of the iPhone with unique and differentiating features (e.g. full touchscreen
for exceptional user experience), which made smartphones “mainstream”. Second, the
establishment of the centralised app store concept – again by Apple – revolutionised the app
market.

MNOs still mostly control the voice and data access and transfer over the network. However,
the challenge MNOs face is that the tremendous traffic growth does not correlate with revenue
growth (Informa, 2009, see Figure 1). Thus, operators are in need of new revenue sources to
support necessary infrastructure upgrades.

Figure 1: Decoupled traffic and revenue growth (Informa, 2009)

   5000
                            Data traffic (PB)          Data revenues (US$ mil.)

   4000

   3000

   2000

   1000

          0
                    2008             2009       2010                2011          2012       2013

The question is, should MNOs follow a smart- or dumb-pipe strategy to leverage revenue
opportunities? One aspect of a smart-pipe strategy is to strengthen the MNOs’ positioning
             Classic Telco Services:                                  Mobile apps
as part of the mobile apps ecosystem. Figure 2 schematically shows the trend of changes
             ■ Voice
in service usage   share over time. Initially the ecosystem was driven by operators, hence all
             ■ Messaging
services were■ ...
                provided by operators. With the advent of centralised 3rd party mobile app
                                                Telco
stores this changed. In addition, more and more 3rd parties successfully supplied services
                                                  value
which were traditionally in the remit of MNOs added such as voice or messaging. The goal of a mobile
    Service Usage

                                                                            3rd party apps offering
app-related smart-pipe strategy would be to make           sure that the valuable operator assets are
                                                      services
                                                                            telco-like services
leveraged and transformed in a way which generates value for end consumers.

                                                       Time
3000

The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                                  4
   2000

   1000

          0
                     2008              2009   2010            2011                 2012             2013

Figure 2: Change of service usage share over time

                    Classic Telco Services:                          Mobile apps
                    ■ Voice
                    ■ Messaging
                    ■ ...
                                              Telco
                                               value
    Service Usage

                                                 added
                                                                          3rd party apps offering
                                                   services
                                                                          telco-like services

                                                     Time

One approach to realising a smart-pipe strategy is to open MNO assets to 3rd third parties.
Assets are accessed via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Innovation triggered by
the availability of those assets will lead to the creation of new business models and ultimately
to new revenue sources.

Publicly exposing APIs, however, requires a substantial change in the traditional mindset of
MNOs. In the past, MNOs required strict contractual agreements with 3rd parties which were
usually time-consuming. Individual software or mobile app developers were often not a priority
in such programmes and hence had difficulties joining. Moreover, classic telecom APIs were
complex, proprietary and often not developer-centric. In the past, MNOs generated revenue
by selling access to APIs to developers directly. This is referred to as the “wholesale business
model” of APIs. Disruptive new entrants, primarily coming from an Internet background with
the open Web philosophy in mind proved the wholesale model wrong. Developers working with
these new entrants are offered very attractive opportunities referred to as “two-sided business
models” which do not focus on charging for API access directly. Operators need to rethink the
business rationale: could it be sufficient for operators to get the commercial benefit already
on the retail side from consumers subscribing to high value bundle tariffs because they want
to leverage operator capabilities also in 3rd party use cases? Could operators avoid charging
developers in order to create a competitive offering?

After all, the goal of this study is to highlight assets that only operators can offer to
developers, providing unique value.

The scope here is not necessarily to validate established assets (such as payment, identity or
messaging) but to discover other assets of value to developers. To find these, we conducted
a developer study in two phases: a qualitative phase in the form of expert interviews and a
quantitative phase in the form of an online questionnaire with over 700 responses globally (find
more details about the exact methodology in Appendix A).
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                                                   5

2. Headline Results and Key Insights

In this section we summarise key insights while Section 3 provides a detailed background.
The scope of this study was not necessarily to validate established assets (such as payment,
identity or messaging) but to find other potentially valuable assets for developers.
■■ There is a clear opportunity gap: 33% of respondents use MNO assets exposed through
   APIs today — but actually 81% perceive them as valuable.
■■ Perceived by developers as very valuable:
   – Cross-operator API collaboration (93% of developers agree).
   – Location/geo-fencing functionality (85%).
   – Getting a direct communication/feedback channel to app users
		 (within the app) (83%).
   – Access to users’ context info (83%).
   – Information about detailed connection characteristics (83%).
■■ Back-end services (e.g. cloud services) - (27%) and exploiting brand strength (22%) are
   perceived as less valuable.

The opportunity gap
There is a 48 percentage point (pp) difference between the value that developers assign to
assets from MNOs compared with the rate of their use. In conclusion, there might be an issue
with delivering those assets to developers, rather than a lack of value in the assets in the first
place. General perception in developer communities is that barriers to collaboration with MNOs
should be reduced.

Figure 3: Gap between perceived value and API adoption

                   Do you already incorporate                   Do you believe that Operator APIs can significantly
                  Operator APIs into your apps?                      improve the functionality of your apps?

                                                                             No 19%
                                    Yes 33%
                      No 67%                                                             Yes 81%

                      We could clearly identify an opportunity gap between the
                        adoption of Operator APIs and the perceived value.

   These are assets which developers “agree” or “strongly
   agree” could provide value to their products.

                          Cross-operator collaboration                                   93%           “Cross-operator
                                                                                                       collaboration” is
                                                                                                    perceived as the most
                                Location / geo-fencing                                 85%
                                                                                                      important aspect

             Direct subscriber communication channel                                   83%

                                Subscriber context info                                83%

                               Detailed connection info                                83%

                                                          0%   20%   40%   60%   80%    100%
Do you already incorporate                   Do you believe that Operator APIs can significantly
                  Operator APIs into your apps?                      improve the functionality of your apps?
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                                                   6

                                                                             No 19%
                                    Yes 33%
                      No 67%                                                             Yes 81%
The most valued assets
                 We that
The survey revealed couldthe
                           clearly
                             most identify an opportunity
                                   valued aspect           gap
                                                 reviewed is    between thecollaboration.
                                                             cross-operator
                    adoption  of Operator  APIs and the perceived
This means that a developer in a working relationship with one MNO value.
                                                                     could leverage assets
from other MNOs at the same time, resulting in a much wider reach and a substantially simpler
process for the developer. The numbers in the below figure summarise this point.

Figure 4: Most valued assets

   These are assets which developers “agree” or “strongly
   agree” could provide value to their products.

                          Cross-operator collaboration                                   93%           “Cross-operator
                                                                                                       collaboration” is
                                                                                                    perceived as the most
                                Location / geo-fencing                                 85%
                                                                                                      important aspect

             Direct subscriber communication channel                                   83%

                                Subscriber context info                                83%

                               Detailed connection info                                83%

                                                          0%   20%   40%   60%   80%    100%

The asset perceived as providing the second highest value is location and geo-fencing
functionality with location info coming from the network as opposed to the device as a source.
The main benefit is that it would also work indoors.

The next three most valuable assets all scored an equal rating (at 83%). First up was getting
a direct communication channel to an app user which would allow a developer to get direct
feedback. A beneficial consequence could be to exploit this for A/B testing. Next was access
to a user’s context information. This is a very powerful asset, and it is probably the case that no
other ecosystem player can aggregate as much information about a user than an MNO, such
as, for instance, usage patterns. In that case, privacy needs to be carefully considered; this is
out of the scope of this study for now though. The last asset ranking in the top five enables
the accessing of information about detailed connection characteristics, such as the current
network a user is on and related performance (e.g. bandwidth) and quality-of-service measures
potentially combined with the user’s data plan. This might be useful for scoping the delivery of
content, e.g. the quality of video streamed to a user’s device
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                                                       7

The least valued assets
The figure below lists those assets that are perceived as providing the least value to developers.

Figure 5: Least Valued Assets

   These are assets which developers “disagree” or “strongly
   disagree” could provide value to their products.

                                                                                               “Please allow developers to
             Access to subscriber contract data                      34%
                                                                                                  engage without signing
                                                                                                complicated agreements.
            Back-end services (cloud, big data)                  27%                           Document the platform […];
                                                                                               provide […] ways to test an
                  Industry vertical specific data              24%
                                                                                                  app […]; write example
                                                                                                libraries and put them on
                                                                                               github. Developers make the
                  Benefits from brand strength                 22%                             platform vibrant […] ; allow
                                                                                                anyone to work with your
                                                    0%   20%     40%       60%   80%   100%   APIs and then they will do so.”
                                                                                                   (Quote from respondent)

Surprisingly, back-end services (currently much buzz surrounds services such as cloud and big
data)  seem to
    Tangible       be perceived as less valuable. As an explanation,
              Assets                                                 we can assume that there are
                                                        Intangible Assets
already a lot of suppliers out there who provide such services sufficiently well, and cloud or
               Logical location provision API                           Brand strength
big data is not traditionally in the remit of MNOs. Services which are in the remit of MNOs i.e.
classic network functions such as messaging, location or payment, are scored fairly highly (see
          Point, line, area location information API                App distribution support
Section 3, Figure 13). Moreover, developers assessed direct access to subscribers’ contract data
as less valuable. Voice interaction API                             App promotion support

At the bottom  of the
             Direct    ranking
                    consumer    is the
                             channel APIbrand strength of MNOs. Cross-operator
                                                                Despite MNOs       having very strong
                                                                               collaboration
brands, developers do not seem to perceive them as very useful in marketing their services.
                      Subscriber info API

                          Context API

                   Targeted advertising API

               Vertical-specific API configuration

                   Back-end processing API

            Low-level mobile network functions API
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                                         8

        are assets which developers “disagree” or “strongly
3.These
   Identified
  disagree”            Assets:
            could provide             Detailed
                          value to their products.     Results
                                                                                  “Please allow developers to
            Access to subscriber contract data          34%
                                                                                     engage without signing
                                                                                   complicated agreements.
          Back-end services (cloud, big data)            27%                      Document the platform […];
This section gives more depth to the key insights summarised in the previous               section. The
                                                                                  provide […] ways to test an
interviews conducted in the qualitative phase showed that MNOs, in principle,        app   are
                                                                                         […];   in example
                                                                                              write a position
               Industry vertical specific data         24%
to offer assets that are very valuable to developers. It also revealed somelibraries  of theand  put them on
                                                                                              perceptions
                                                                                  github. Developers make the
about workingBenefits
                 with MNOs       as stated
                        from brand   strength above (e.g.
                                                      22% unattractive API offerings,  cumbersome modes
                                                                                  platform vibrant […] ; allow
of collaboration), which could be a reason for the gap in perceived valueanyone      and adoption
                                                                                           to work withrate.
                                                                                                         your
                                               0% 20%    40% 60% 80% 100%        APIs and then they will do so.”
                                                                                        (Quote from respondent)
The identified assets can be divided into tangible and intangible ones. Tangible assets refer to
technical functions, intangible ones to supportive services (see Figure 6).

Figure 6: Summary of the MNO API Framework

    Tangible Assets                                           Intangible Assets
                 Logical location provision API                               Brand strength

           Point, line, area location information API                    App distribution support

                     Voice interaction API                                App promotion support

                 Direct consumer channel API                            Cross-operator collaboration

                      Subscriber info API

                          Context API

                   Targeted advertising API

              Vertical-specific API configuration

                   Back-end processing API

           Low-level mobile network functions API
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                              9

Description of the Tangible Assets

Logical location provision API
On top of latitude and longitude position information, logical information such as “in a certain
district” or “at the meat counter in a certain supermarket” should be provided.

Point, line, area location information API
Not just geo-referenced point information but also geometric line and area information should
be provided.

Voice interaction API
A rich set of voice interaction features (start, terminate, on hold, join a call, conference call or
video call) should be provided.

Direct consumer channel API
A direct channel to an app consumer should be possible to collect direct feedback.

Subscriber info API
Profile information (e.g. demographics) about subscribers should be provided. Subscriber
information is probably the most powerful asset an operator has. Privacy aspects need to be
considered carefully. Such information, however, could be abstracted through aggregation.

Context API
Rich types of context information (network usage patterns, mobile device features etc.) should
be provided.

Targeted advertising API
Advertising that is relevant to the consumer based on profile and context information should
be provided.

Vertical-specific API configuration
Different APIs should be bundled together such that they address the specific requirements of
particular verticals (retail, automotive, banking, insurance, education, health care etc.).

Back-end processing API
Processing power (e.g. big data analysis) and storage in a back-end should be provided.

Low-level mobile network function API
Access to network manipulation functions (e.g. to specify the quality of service, video demands
a different quality level than a text email) should be provided.
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                              10

Brand strength
MNOs have very strong and respected brands, and being able to make use of these could be of
great benefit to a developer.

App distribution support
MNOs have a lot of very well established (physical as well as virtual) distribution channels.
Effective app distribution is one of the big challenges for developers.

App promotion support
Developers could benefit from promotional support from operators by leveraging the
operators’ assets such as financial and human resources, brand strength, distribution channels,
and marketing and promotion networks.

Cross-operator collaboration
MNOs often require developers to follow complex legal and business processes which, from a
developer’s perspective, could in many cases be handled in a more streamlined and developer-
friendly way; ideally with a single contact for the developer.

Based on the assets identified in the qualitative phase, we designed an online questionnaire to
quantify the value of these assets1.

Several questions relate to the “Cross-operator collaboration” asset. Related to this is operator
fragmentation which is a pain point for developers. 43.5% claim that they strongly agree with
the statement that they would work more with operators if they could reduce fragmentation
(see Figure 7). This is the highest value achieved for the option of “strongly agree” across all
questions. 44.1% agree.

Figure 7: Fragmentation
I would consider working more with MNOs…
                               ...if they would reduce operator fragmentation (i.e. APIs only
                                                       working on the network of one MNO).

                  STRONGLY AGREE
                                                              2.5%
                                                            NOT APPLICABLE             43.5%
                                                                                      STRONGLY AGREE
                         AGREE
                                                              1.9%
                                                           STRONGLY DISAGREE
                       DISAGREE
                                                              8.0%
                                                              DISAGREE
                STRONGLY DISAGREE

                  NOT APPLICABLE
                                                             44.1%
                                                              AGREE

1.   See Appendix A for more details on the methodology.
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                            11

Figure 8 shows that 38% of participating developers strongly agree, and 55% agree, that they
would benefit from closer MNO collaboration. We wanted to find out if there is a difference
in the responses from “long-tail” and “big-head” developers . Figure 9 shows big-head results
while Figure 10 shows long-tail results. Interestingly, there is hardly any difference between
these two segments: There is a 5 pp greater agreement from the long-tail developers
(agreement = “strongly agree” & “agree”).

Figure 8: Close operator cooperation
I would benefit if MNOs cooperated more closely to provide better value for developers.

           STRONGLY AGREE
                                     1.7%                                           38.0%
           STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
                                     1.7%
                                   NOT APPLICABLE

                                   NOT1.3%
                                       APPLICABLE                                   38.0%
                                                                                    STRONGLY AGREE

                                                                                    STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
              DISAGREE               1.3%
                                 STRONGLY DISAGREE

              DISAGREE
                                    4.0%
                                 STRONGLY DISAGREE

          STRONGLY DISAGREE         4.0%
                                      DISAGREE

          STRONGLY DISAGREE        55.0%
                                      DISAGREE

                                   55.0%
            NOT APPLICABLE             AGREE

           NOT APPLICABLE              AGREE

Figure 9: Close operator cooperation (big head)
I would benefit if MNOs cooperated more closely to provide better value for developers.
           STRONGLY AGREE
                                    2.3%                                             37.4%
           STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
                                    2.3%
                                   NOT APPLICABLE

                                   NOT1.5%
                                       APPLICABLE                                    37.4%
                                                                                    STRONGLY AGREE

                                                                                    STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
              DISAGREE               1.5%
                                 STRONGLY DISAGREE

              DISAGREE
                                    6.9%
                                 STRONGLY DISAGREE

          STRONGLY DISAGREE         6.9%
                                      DISAGREE

          STRONGLY DISAGREE        51.9%
                                      DISAGREE

                                   51.9%
            NOT APPLICABLE             AGREE

           NOT APPLICABLE              AGREE
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                           12

Figure 10: Close operator cooperation (long-tail)
I would benefit if MNOs cooperated more closely to provide better value for developers.

           STRONGLY AGREE
                                     1.5%
                                   NOT APPLICABLE                                   38.2%
           STRONGLY
               AGREEAGREE
                                     1.5%
                                     1.3%
                                   NOT APPLICABLE
                                                                                   STRONGLY AGREE

                                                                                    38.2%
                                 STRONGLY DISAGREE
                                                                                   STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
              DISAGREE
                                    1.3%
                                    3.0%
                                 STRONGLY DISAGREE
                                     DISAGREE
              DISAGREE
          STRONGLY DISAGREE
                                    3.0%
                                   55.9%
                                    DISAGREE
          STRONGLY DISAGREE
            NOT APPLICABLE             AGREE

           NOT APPLICABLE
                                   55.9%
                                    AGREE
Figure 11: Cross-operator API access
I would consider working with MNOs if, through the relationship with one operator, I could
        STRONGLY
also access  services               2.9%
                 AGREE or APIs from all other operators in my relevant market(s).
                                   NOT APPLICABLE                                   35.7%
           STRONGLY
               AGREEAGREE
                                    2.9%
                                     1.7%
                                   NOT APPLICABLE
                                                                                   STRONGLY AGREE

                                                                                    35.7%
                                 STRONGLY DISAGREE
                                                                                   STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
              DISAGREE
                                    1.7%
                                    7.1%
                                 STRONGLY DISAGREE
                                     DISAGREE
              DISAGREE
          STRONGLY DISAGREE
                                    7.1%
                                   52.7%
                                    DISAGREE
          STRONGLY DISAGREE
            NOT APPLICABLE             AGREE

           NOT APPLICABLE
                                   52.7%
                                    AGREE

35.7% of the developers questioned strongly agree that they would consider working with
MNOs if, through a relationship with an operator, they could also access services or APIs from
other operators in relevant markets;52.7% agree, whereas 8.8% disagree or strongly disagree.
Again, there is only a minor difference in responses between long-tail and big-head developers:
long-tail developers agree 2pp more.
STRONGLY AGREE
                                            2.9%
                                          NOT APPLICABLE                                               35.7%
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                                               13
                                                                                                       STRONGLY AGREE
                   AGREE
                                            1.7%
                                         STRONGLY DISAGREE
                 DISAGREE
                                            7.1%
                                            DISAGREE
           STRONGLY DISAGREE

              NOT APPLICABLE
                                           52.7%
                                            AGREE
Figure 12: Cross-operator capability access
If one operator offered a service allowing access to other operators’ capabilities then I
would choose this operator over others.

             STRONGLY AGREE
                                            3.5%
                                          NOT APPLICABLE                                               33.4%
                                                                                                       STRONGLY AGREE
                   AGREE
                                            1.5%
                                         STRONGLY DISAGREE
                 DISAGREE
                                            9.2%
                                            DISAGREE
           STRONGLY DISAGREE

              NOT APPLICABLE
                                           52.4%
                                            AGREE

Developers are mainly in agreement (33.4% strongly agree and 52.4% agree) that they would
prefer an operator which would allow access to another operator’s capabilities over one which
would not provide this collaborative feature. In responses to this question, long-tail developers
are 2 pp less in agreement than big-head developers.

According to our results, cross-operator collaboration was assessed as the most valuable
aspect for developers. The next chart (Figure 13) summarises how developers judged the value
of some other aspects.

Figure 13: Valuable MNO elements
The following MNO elements are useful to me:

     APIs for mobile network
     functions (e.g. payment,
      location or messaging)
                                                                                                        84.7%
    APIs for other (non core)
  services (e.g. cloud storage or
      big data analysis tools)
                                                                           47.2%
    APIs for other (non core)
  services (e.g. cloud storage or                                            49.8%
      big data analysis tools)
       Other MNO services
   (e.g. promotion or marketing                                    33.5%
             support)

        None of the above                  6.8%
                                    0%      10%        20%   30%     40%   50%       60%   70%   80%      90%       100%

Various relevant aspects were assessed by the developers as follows:
■■ 84.7% claimed that APIs for mobile network functions are useful to them
■■ Only 47.2% consider APIs for non-core services to be useful (such as cloud storage)
             STRONGLY AGREE
                                            3.6%
■■ 49.8% think access to MNO-specific assets (such as subscriber info) is useful
                                          NOT APPLICABLE                                               15.3%
■■ Interestingly, only 33.5% think other, non-technical services (such as marketing support)
                                                                                  STRONGLY AGREE
           AGREE
   by MNOs are useful to them               4.7%
                                         STRONGLY DISAGREE
                 DISAGREE
                                          28.8%
                                           DISAGREE
           STRONGLY DISAGREE

                                           47.5%
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                                                  14

This particular question allowed for additional comments from respondents and several
comments mentioned an interest in “advertising” and “access to connected TV.”

Before going into more detail regarding technical aspects such as APIs, we want to present
other areas where developers see the main benefits in working with operators.
Summary ordered according to ratings by developers (see also Figure 14):
■■ 51.8% believe the benefit is the simplicity of technical integration
■■ 47.3% appreciate platform-independence
■■ 43.1% see the main benefit in the wider reach to customers
■■ 38.2% think speed of technical integration is a benefit

Figure 14: The benefit of operator APIs
What do you think is the benefit of operator APIs?

         Simplicity of
     technical integration                                                                                        51.8%
           Speed of
     technical integration                                                                 38.2%
            Platform
         independence                                                                                      47.3%

     Wider reach to users                                                                          43.1%

     Greater user take-up                             19.8%

        Higher usability                                                    31.4%

       Support from MNO                                                    30.0%

         There is none                 4.5%
                                  0%          10%   20%              30%                   40%              50%           60%

   Access to mobile network
         functionality                                    2.79
       Simplicity of APIs
           or SDKs                                            3.21
         Revenue share
   (of app-related payments)                                  3.22

       Quality of support                                                    4.27

       Marketing support                                                     4.28

    Quick and simple mode                                                           4.75

  Treats me like a real partner                                                                  5.43
DISAGREE                                 8.0%
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                                   15

         STRONGLY DISAGREE        1.9%

           NOT APPLICABLE           2.5%
                             0%       5%            10%      15%   20%   25%   30%   35%    40%         45%      50%

Figure 15: Simplified mode of collaboration
I would consider working more with MNOs if they would simplify their business processes,
legal proceedures, settlement times, or a combination of these aspects.

          STRONGLY AGREE
                                     3.6%
                                   NOT APPLICABLE                                          40.8%
                                                                                           STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
                                     1.3%
                                  STRONGLY DISAGREE
             DISAGREE
                                     7.6%
                                     DISAGREE
         STRONGLY DISAGREE

           NOT APPLICABLE
                                   46.6%
                                    AGREE

A simplification of the adoption and operation of operator services or APIs is a considerable
concern for developers too. 40.8% strongly agree (46.6% agree) that they would work more
with MNOs if business processes, legal procedures, or settlement times could be improved (see
Figure 15).The following charts give more details, especially on more technical aspects queried
in more depth.

Figure 16: Location and geo-fencing API
I would find it particularly helpful to be able to gain access to a location API that defines a
geographic area with which I can interact (i.e. geo-fencing) provided by MNOs.

          STRONGLY AGREE
                                     4.0%
                                   NOT APPLICABLE                                          35.0%
                                                                                           STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
                                     1.9%
                                  STRONGLY DISAGREE
             DISAGREE
                                     9.4%
                                     DISAGREE
         STRONGLY DISAGREE

           NOT APPLICABLE
                                   49.6%
                                    AGREE

35% of respondents also considered geo-fencing based on location APIs provided by MNOs as
particularly  helpful
         STRONGLY
                                     3.3%
                  AGREE (strongly agree). 49.6% agreed.
                                   NOT APPLICABLE                                          29.2%
                                                                                           STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
                                     2.5%
                                  STRONGLY DISAGREE
             DISAGREE
                                    10.8%
                                     DISAGREE
         STRONGLY DISAGREE

           NOT APPLICABLE
                                    54.2%
                                     AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE
                                    4.0%
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers
                                   NOT APPLICABLE                                     35.0%           16

                                                                                     STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
                                    1.9%
                                 STRONGLY DISAGREE
             DISAGREE
                                    9.4%
                                    DISAGREE
         STRONGLY DISAGREE

Figure NOT
         17:APPLICABLE
                                   49.6%
             Direct user interaction
                              AGREE
I would find it particularly helpful to be able to gain access to APIs that allow me to set up
a direct communication channel to my app users (e.g., to obtain feedback about certain
functions or designs).

           STRONGLY AGREE
                                    3.3%
                                   NOT APPLICABLE                                    29.2%
                                                                                     STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
                                    2.5%
                                 STRONGLY DISAGREE
             DISAGREE
                                   10.8%
                                    DISAGREE
         STRONGLY DISAGREE

           NOT APPLICABLE
                                   54.2%
                                    AGREE

We found out that 83.4% of participating developers either agree (54.2%) or strongly agree
(29.2%) that a direct communication channel to app users could be particularly helpful.

Figure 18: User context
I would find it particularly helpful to be able to gain access to different types of context of a
user (e.g., which device, network, usage patterns, locations, or demographics).

           STRONGLY AGREE
                                    3.3%
                                   NOT APPLICABLE                                     27.7%
                                                                                     STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
                                    2.3%
                                 STRONGLY DISAGREE
             DISAGREE
                                   11.0%
                                    DISAGREE
         STRONGLY DISAGREE

           NOT APPLICABLE
                                   55.8%
                                    AGREE

Also, access to the rich context of a user provided by MNOs seems to be very relevant for

                                    3.8%
developers (27.7% strongly agree, 55.8% strongly agree).
           STRONGLY AGREE
                                   NOT APPLICABLE                                    28.0%
                                                                                     STRONGLY AGREE
               AGREE
                                     1.7%
                                 STRONGLY DISAGREE
             DISAGREE
                                    11.2%
                                     DISAGREE
         STRONGLY DISAGREE

           NOT APPLICABLE
                                   55.2%
                                    AGREE
STRONGLY AGREE
                                           3.3%
                                   NOT APPLICABLE                                                      27.7%
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                                              17
                                                                                                      STRONGLY AGREE
                  AGREE
                                           2.3%
                                        STRONGLY DISAGREE
                DISAGREE
                                          11.0%
                                           DISAGREE
          STRONGLY DISAGREE

            NOT APPLICABLE
                                         55.8%
                                          AGREE
Figure 19: Data connection
I would find it particularly helpful to be able to gain access to APIs that provide detailed
info about the data connection (e.g., roaming status info).

            STRONGLY AGREE
                                           3.8%
                                         NOT APPLICABLE                                               28.0%
                                                                                                      STRONGLY AGREE
                   AGREE
    APIs for mobile network                1.7%
    functions (e.g. payment,
     location or DISAGREE
                 messaging)
                                        STRONGLY DISAGREE                                              84.7%
   APIs for other (non core)
 services (e.g. cloud storage or          11.2%
                                           DISAGREE
                                                                          47.2%
     big data analysisDISAGREE
           STRONGLY    tools)
   APIs for other (non core)
 services (e.g. cloud storage or
     big data NOT
              analysis tools)
                  APPLICABLE
                                          55.2%
                                           AGREE
                                                                            49.8%
      Other MNO services
  (e.g. promotion or marketing                                    33.5%
            support)

28% of
    Nonedevelopers
         of the above strongly6.8%
                               agree that APIs which provide detailed information about data
connection such as roaming status seem to be particularly helpful, 55.2% agree.
                                   0%      10%       20%    30%     40%   50%       60%   70%   80%      90%       100%
Figure 20: Classic mobile network functions
I would prefer to use these classic mobile network functions from MNOs rather than from
other (non-MNO0 players in the market.

            STRONGLY AGREE
                                           3.6%
                                         NOT APPLICABLE                                               15.3%
                                                                                                      STRONGLY AGREE
                  AGREE
                                           4.7%
                                        STRONGLY DISAGREE
                DISAGREE
                                         28.8%
                                          DISAGREE
          STRONGLY DISAGREE

            NOT APPLICABLE
                                          47.5%
                                           AGREE

A majority of developers (62.8%) either agree or strongly agree that they would prefer to work
with MNOs to use classic mobile network functions rather than using services provided by
other players (non-MNO). Only 33.5% disagree.
Greater user take-up                                 19.8%
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                                                      18

        Higher usability                                                           31.4%

       Support from MNO                                                           30.0%

         There is none                 4.5%
                                  0%          10%       20%                 30%                   40%          50%        60%
Figure 21: Most important factors when working with an MNO
For me, the most important factor when working with an MNO is (please rank):

   Access to mobile network
         functionality                                            2.79
       Simplicity of APIs
           or SDKs                                                   3.21
         Revenue share
   (of app-related payments)                                         3.22

       Quality of support                                                           4.27

       Marketing support                                                            4.28

    Quick and simple mode                                                                  4.75

  Treats me like a real partner                                                                         5.43

             Other                                                                                                       7.62
                                  0      1          2         3             4               5             6          7     8

The developers also ranked the importance of certain factors when working with MNOs (from
“1” as most important to “8” as least important). The top three factors are:
■■ Access to mobile network functionality
■■ Simplicity of APIs or SDKs
■■ Revenue share

The questionnaire had several open-ended elements where developers could give qualitative
feedback. Here is a summary of the core messages and some selected direct quotes:
■■ Developers perceive MNOs in general as too restrictive and slow-moving
■■ Fragmentation and the resulting need to choose the “right” MNO is a considerable pain-
   point for developers
■■ Developer experience in using APIs, tools, documentation and testing could be improved
   and simplified
■■ Context and personalisation is valued highly by developers as future MNO-core assets
■■ The topic of advertising was mentioned several times
■■ Connected TV seems to be of interest
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                          19

Quote 1:

 Please allow any developer to engage with the MNO platform without signing complicated
 agreements.
 Document the platform and its APIs without signup; provide test/sandbox servers and ways
 to test an app without signing an agreement; write example libraries and put them on github.
 Developers make the platform vibrant, and developers are not interested in engaging in a
 “partnership” model;
 Allow anyone to work with your APIs and then they will do so.

Quote 2:

 One of the issue as a third party dev is to identify the MNO in case there are many MNOs in
 the country.

Quote 3 (Related to question about user context):

 These APIs above can help us to quickly develop innovative services. SMS and voice is being
 replaced by IM and Vo-IP services, therefore as Business Development, we should always
 look to create new services. These APIs would help us to create more personalised services.

Quote 4:

 Fragmentation makes working with operator specific APIs unappealing. Need to build apps
 that work worldwide (or at the very least across all of a country’s carriers) not just with one
 carrier.

Quote 5:

 These are really interesting questions and YES common APIs and Operator Based APIs
 would be something really great to have. One suggestion: Provide these APIs to Academics
 (for final year projects etc) and see the wonders that come out! :-D
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                                                          20

4. Asset Exploitation in API Strategy

API Strategy
The mobile app economy has developed and moved on. Market forces changed. The beneficial
consequences of exposing assets via APIs are well known and accepted (Jacobson et al., 2012).
This trend gave rise to the notion of the “API economy”. The Cutter Consortium defines the API
economy as:

         …the economy where companies expose their (internal) business assets or services in
         the form of (Web) APIs to third parties with the goal of unlocking additional business
         value through the creation of new asset classes3.

The benefits of exposing APIs can broadly be summarised as:
 1.      Wider reach (e.g. of an organisation’s brand)
 2. External sources of innovation (i.e. facilitating the idea of open innovation)
 3. New or extended sources of revenue
 4. Improved internal efficiency

It is up to the asset holder (MNOs in the scope of this study) on which benefit to focus in order
to support their overarching business strategy. Based on theories of strategy, there are always
the internal (which specific and valuable capabilities does an organisation have?) and external
views (market dynamics, trends, competitors, customer behaviours etc.) which guide the
definition of a strategy. The internal view (also often referred to as the resource-based view)
was heavily influenced by the works of Jay Barney (1991) who claimed that an organisation’s
capability of strategic importance needs to be VRIN: valuable, rare, in-imitable, and non-
substitutable.

The external view is mainly about macro environmental drivers, often summarised as PEST
(political, economic, social, and technological) based on the works of Francis J. Aguilar (1967),
and the industry forces, which Michael E. Porter (2008) described as the Five Forces (rivalry,
buyers, suppliers, substitutes or new entrants).

Figure 22 illustrates how the internal and the external views influence the tactics that make up
an API strategy. Strategies can be cascaded; an API strategy could be part of a digital strategy
which in turn could be part of the wider business strategy.

3.    See http://www.cutter.com/content-and-analysis/resource-centers/agile-project-management/sample-our-research/apmu1306.html
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                                            21

Figure 22: Influence of internal and external views on API strategy

                                                                       1. Where are we now?

                                                                    2. Where do we want to be?

                                                                      3. How do we get there?

                                                                                 Tactics
                                                                              Strategic Fit
       Business       Digital               API                              Business Model
       Strategy      Strategy            Strategy                             Technology
                                                                               Marketing
                                                                               Operators

                                                          External View                           Internal View
                                                          5 Forces, PEST                         VRIN Capabilities

Leveraging the results of this study
The main insights of this study can be summarised as the identification of a clear gap between,
on the one hand, the high perceived value of MNO assets by developers and the low adoption
                                             35%
rate of MNO APIs on the other hand. Based on our       results, we interpret that MNOs have a
                                                    Europe
                                             8%
range of valuable
              North tangible
                      23%                           96%                   33%
                             and intangible assets. However, these assets are not Asiadelivered to the
                                             4%                           20%
market (i.e. America   7% in an ideal manner; hence the low adoption rate. We83%
             developers)                                                          could not identify
a significant97%
                                                                           4%
              difference
                      5% between long-tail and big-head developer segments.

The most apparent and most valuable aspect for developers according to the results of this
                                                                 37%
study seems to be better collaboration between           Africa
                                                            operators to provide benefits to developers
in terms of wider reach and simplicity of API or69%
                                                                 37%
                                                          service adoption. Other works such as by
                                                                 19%
Vision Mobile (2013) clearly show the global “mobile app trade” across not just countries but
continents. The graph in Figure 23 shows that Europe and North America have the highest
                        Latin     25%                                               21%
demands, followed by      Latin America in third place. The largest number of App       Oceania
                                                                                             imports to North
                       America
                                  11%                                               21%
America come from 91%   Africa, followed by Europe and then Asia. Asia’s top app        85%export continents
                                   7%                                                8%
are North America and Europe. Furthermore, Vision Mobile analysed several telecom markets
globally by comparing the addressable market size (i.e. mobile subscribers per market),
smartphone penetration and user-engagement levels in that market. The bottom right quadrant
in FigureNorth
          24 highlights
               America
                           those    markets offering
                               Europe
                                                       the greatest opportunities.
                                                  Africa               Demand in region

           Latin America          Asia              Oceania                Demand outside of region
Tactics
                                                                                                                                               Strategic Fit
                                                 Business            Digital                     API                                          Business Model
The Value of OperatorStrategy
       Strategy      APIs for DevelopersStrategy                                                                                                                                                      22
                                                                                                                                               Technology
                                                                                                                                                Marketing
                                                                                                                                                Operators

                                                                                                                           External View                               Internal View
                                                                                                                           5 Forces, PEST                             VRIN Capabilities

Figure 23: Mobile app trade map (Vision Mobile, 2013)

                                                                                                                 35%
                                                                                                                             Europe
                                                                                                                 8%
                                                            North       23%                                                 96%                          33%
                                                                                                                                                                        Asia
                                                                                                                 4%                                      20%
                                                           America
                                                                           7%                                                                                         83%
                                                            97%            5%
                                                                                                                                                         4%

                                                                                                                                      37%
                                                                                                                          Africa

                                                                                                                       69%            37%
                                                                                                                                      19%

                                                                            Latin        25%                                                             21%
                                                                                                                                                                      Oceania
                                                                           America
                                                                                         11%                                                             21%
                                                                           91%                                                                                        85%
                                                                                         7%                                                              8%

                                                      North America                   Europe                     Africa                     Demand in region

                                                      Latin America                   Asia                       Oceania                    Demand outside of region

Figure 24: Telecom market opportunities (Vision Mobile, 2012)
                                                 25
                                                                                                                                                                                   Maturity
User engagement (app downloads per smartphone)

                                                                                                                                                US            UK
                                                 20
                                                                                                                                                                                            Sweden
                                                                                                                                                 Netherlands
                                                                                                                             Germany
                                                 15
                                                                                                                                                                                Australia

                                                                                                      Russia
                                                                                                                                   France
                                                 10
                                                                   China
                                                                                                                                                                               Spain
                                                                                                                                                     Italy
                                                                                                       Poland
                                                 5                                           Brasil

                                                           India
                                                                                                                                                                   Bubble size = addressable market
                                                                            Opportunity                                                                            (mobile subscribers per country)
                                                 0
                                                      0%                        10%                        20%                        30%                    40%                       50%
                                                                                                       Smartphone penetration per capita (%)
          Data: Xyologic, Tomi Ahonen, Analysis by Visionmobile
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                        23

Some of the results of this study are new and encouraging for MNO API programmes (e.g. the
gap, cross-operator collaboration, direct customer feedback channels, geo-fencing), some
are surprising (e.g. not too much interest in cloud or big data topics, leveraging MNOs’ brand
strength is of secondary importance), some provide confirmations (e.g. developers appreciate
location or payment APIs by MNOs, developers are not too impressed by MNOs’ offerings for
developers) while some can be judged as obvious and nothing new (e.g. developers expect
MNOs to deliver classic network functions (voice, SMS) better than other market players).

In conclusion, the gap between the perceived value of operator APIs and the current adoption
rate suggests that there is currently an underutilised potential. If MNOs perceive APIs and
an API strategy as purposefully contributing to their overarching strategy, then stepping
into this field and deploying the right developer-friendly tactics seems to be very promising.
Furthermore, to reduce operator fragmentation and to increase attractiveness for developers,
thinking beyond one operator’s boundaries is recommended (cross-operator API solutions).
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                          24

References

Aguilar J.F. (1967): Scanning the business environment. Macmillan.

Barney J.B. (1991): Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of
Management. 17(1), pp.99-120.

Informa (2009): Mobile Network APIs. Enabling Web Services, operator app stores and
developer communities. Informa Telecoms & Media.

Jacobson, D., Brail, G., & Woods, D. (2012): APIs -- A Strategy Guide. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.

Porter, M.E. (2008): The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review,
January 2008, p.86-104.

Shanker A. (2012): A Customer Value Creation Framework for Businesses That Generate
Revenue with Open Source Software. Technology Innovation Management Review, March 2012,
pp.18-22.

Vision Mobile (2012): Developer Economics 2012. www.visionmobile.com

Vision Mobile (2013): App Trade: A Global Opportunity.
http://www.visionmobile.com/blog/2013/10/app-trade-a-global-opportunity/

Woodruff, R. (1997): Customer value: The next source for competitive advantage. Journal of the
Academy of Marketing Science. 25(2), pp.139-153.
The Value of Operator APIs for Developers                                                       25

Appendix A: Research Methodology

Figure 25 below summarises the deployed methodology underpinning the developer survey on
operator APIs. The defined research question was:

     What are assets that only operators can offer to developers, providing unique value?

The scope is not necessarily to validate established assets (such as payment, identity or
messaging) but to find out about other potentially valuable assets for developers. To answer
this question we deployed a perceived use value (PUV) analysis mainly based on the works of
Woodruff (1997) and Shanker (2012). The project was split into two phases.

The first, qualitative phase encompassed 13 semi-structured expert interviews (in three
categories: developers, independent industry experts, MNO staff) with the goal of identifying
(ideally new) asset areas.

The ideal goal was to find valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable assets (VRIN model),
which according to Barney (1991) are those assets that can lead to a sustainable competitive
advantage. Only some of the identified assets fulfil all of the VRIN characteristics, but all of
them are valuable to mobile app developers.

Based on these results, the quantitative second phase was designed as an online
questionnaire. This questionnaire had an outreach to about 70,000 contacts using email
distribution and social media, with a response rate of over 700 individuals.

Figure 25: Operator API developer survey

  Methodology

  Research question
  What are assets that only operators can offer to developers, providing unique value?

  Outreach
  70,000 contact points with 700 responses

  Method
  Perceived use value analysis in two phases

      1. Qualitative Phase                            2. Quantitative Phase
          Expert interviews                              Online questionnaire

              Assess which assets developers value          Quantify outcomes from Phase 1
              Confirm existing assumptions                  Gauge relevance of Network APIs
              Identify new opportunities                    Deduce relevant strategies
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