LIVE FROM CTIA WIRELESS 2012: The GSMA said that Canadian operators Bell Mobility, Rogers Communications and Telus have deployed a commercial OneAPI Gateway, intended to enable developers to create apps targeting subscribers across the networks using a standard set of interfaces.

The Association said it has been “a leader in defining a set of API standards” which have been adopted as an agreed global standard for network APIs across mobile operators. Currently supported are interfaces for carrier billing, SMS and location, with future capabilities such as MMS, data connection profile and call control “which may be added later.”

The Canadian operators are using a gateway operated by Transaction Network Services (TNSI) on behalf of the GSMA, with a supporting portal where developers can interact with the various companies.

The intention is to make it easier for developers to create “many more mobile services and applications,” enabling them to reach users “far more simply than ever before.” The benefit for operators is increase network service use, and therefore increased revenue.

“By using the GSMA OneAPI Gateway, developers have a larger addressable market, can provide an enhanced customer experience and produce new revenue opportunities for mobile operators and developers alike," said Alex Sinclair, CTO of the GSMA.

The launch follows a commercial pilot which was launched in Canada in February 2010, and which was intended to “lower the technical and commercial barriers to entry.”