Telefonica, MasOrange and Vodafone Group teamed with the i2CAT research centre in Spain to open Europe’s first multi-operator Open Gateway lab, a facility designed to accelerate adoption of interoperable APIs and aid use case development.

It will be hosted at i2CAT’s centre in Barcelona and coordinated by the foundation which runs the site. It will serve as a connection point between operators and developers and is connected to the GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative.

Designed to provide an accessible and collaborative environment, the facility will offer tools, test environments and technical support targeted at optimising interoperability and aiding application development.

A working group at the facility aims to reach consensus on API deployment as well as “foster an open discussion environment based on technological and business innovation criteria,” the partners noted in a statement.

“i2CAT will not only lead the integration of performance testing into existing APIs, but will also collaborate in the creation of new APIs, ensuring an optimised development experience and unified performance for innovative applications,” it added.

Telefonica open gateway director of product and strategy Irene Bernal said the collaboration would “create an innovation environment with specific use cases that enhances multi-operator cooperation, an essential component of the Open Gateway initiative”.

Noting the “leadership of i2CAT” on the project, she added “the participation of operators, customers and public-private links will enhance the capacity to develop new opportunities for the entire digital ecosystem”.