SK Telecom (SKT), KT and LG Uplus agreed to establish and commercialise common open APIs in South Korea, aiming to lower entry barriers and the time required to develop apps.

SKT stated the operators joined forces to accelerate digital innovation in the industry by standardising the domestic mobile telecoms ecosystem around global specifications.

The trio are working on unified standards under the Network Open API banner, which developers and corporate customers can use to create applications which work across all three operators’ networks.

SKT stated the operators were inspired by the GSMA Open Gateway initiative and Linux Foundation’s Camara Project to create common APIs which can connect “simply and quickly with global services”.

Ryu Tak-ki, SKT head of infrastructure technology, noted mobile networks now go beyond providing simple connectivity and are evolving into infrastructure which creates new services with AI and various information-based APIs.

“We can reduce development costs for external customers and improve services.”

The operators previously agreed to create six network API standards through the Korea Information and Communications Technology Association, with a focus on those related to personal information and mobile financial security.

In early 2023, KT was one of 21 global operators to support the Open Gateway initiative, a framework of universal network APIs.