Brazil Carriers Vivo, Claro and Tim launch three GSMA Open Gateway anti-fraud services

As part of the global GSMA Open Gateway initiative, leading carriers in Brazil: Vivo (Telefonica), Claro and TIM have announced the commercial launch of three APIs focused on digital security and anti-fraud: Number Verification, SIM Swap and Device Location Verification. 
 
Open Gateway, was announced to the world for the first time at the MWC 2023 event in Barcelona. Since then, many carriers have joined the project, and now Brazil has become a pioneer in opening its networks to developers around the world to create more digital services that are more secure. 

Open Gateway represents essentially a common and open framework between carriers, created to make it simple for developers and cloud providers to create applications and services that communicate with each other and work for all devices and customers globally, supported by single points of access to mobile networks known as application programming interfaces (APIs).

More than 38 mobile carriers worldwide, representing 228 mobile networks and 64% of global connections, are already part of the initiative, from Brazil to China, from Norway to New Zealand.

Open Gateway represents a paradigm shift in the way the global telecommunications industry designs and markets new mobile applications and digital services. The initiative will help the mobile industry, enterprises and developers to better monetise 5G networks and create new solutions for their customers.

"The Open Gateway initiative is a key milestone in the transformation of the telecoms sector, with a positive impact on several market industries, as it converts communications networks into programmable digital platforms through global, standardised APIs, benefiting a broad digital ecosystem, from startups to large companies.” - Debora Bortolasi, Executive Director B2B of Vivo, Telefónica Group.

Brazilian carriers have started with the launch of three network APIs, which are the first in a long roadmap, focused on fighting digital fraud for financial institutions such as banks and fintechs: 

• Number Verification: this API offers secure verification of a user's mobile number, providing a simple form of validation for any company using SMS mobile numbers and one-time passwords. Developers can use this as a method to create an account in an application, guaranteeing secure, fast and frictionless verification of the user's identity based on their phone number without the need to confirm codes in other applications.

• SIM Swap: this API is useful to check whether a given phone number has recently changed SIM cards. This supports the prevention of account takeover attacks, where fraudsters take control of the owner's SIM card using stolen personal data. For example, during a financial transaction, an institution can check whether the relationship between the customer's phone number and SIM card has changed recently, which will support it in deciding whether or not to approve the transaction.

• Device Location Verification: this API enables devices developers to verify whether a particular device is in a certain location, which can support the detection and avoidance of fake transactions. This can help protect customers against fraudsters using GPS manipulation. The API guarantees instant validation of a device's location, based on the network information of the mobile carrier providing the service. 

The telecommunications industry expects such APIs to accelerate the growth of digital services and applications, guaranteeing seamless integration with national mobile networks, as well as with hundreds of other networks around the world. 

For this first set of APIs, local carriers TIM, Claro and Vivo, have collaborated with strategic partners Infobip, as technical integrator, and Microsoft Azure, as service platform provider.

For its part, Telefónica Open Gateway has set up its Partner Program, through which companies from all sectors can now access exclusive content and specific documentation on the initiative's different APIs and solutions, and keep abreast of upcoming commercial launches.