Ericsson launched the IoT Accelerator Marketplace, a platform designed to improve collaboration within the IoT ecosystem, which the vendor believes can bring the industry closer to 5G.

Jeff Travers, head of IoT, Ericsson, said the marketplace “is another stepping stone to make 5G a reality by enabling massive adoption of massive IoT. This supports service providers as they seek to expose network connectivity IoT APIs [application programming interface] and monetise these assets.”

Service providers will be able to use the service as a catalogue to find IoT apps to offer to enterprise customers and decrease time to market for new offerings. Meanwhile application developers can connect with service providers through the platform, which will also enable monetisation and billing.

“Application developers can benefit from a new go-to-market exposing their offering globally through Ericsson,” the company said in a statement, adding this will enable them to scale their business.

They will also be able to develop applications based on cellular connectivity APIs with added value for enterprises, such as fast and automated device and subscription on-boarding, higher security, ubiquitous cellular coverage improved for indoor use, and superior handling of battery life.

Earlier this week Ericsson announced it is working with AT&T to offer verification and testing of IoT devices with the aim of helping companies adopt and accelerate IoT solutions.