A new study from Juniper Research, the foremost experts in telecommunications markets, predicts that communications services, such as rich media messaging and conversational AI, will represent 32% of operator revenue from network application programming interfaces (APIs) by 2027.

Juniper Research anticipates that the requirement for management tools over growing rich media technologies, such as RCS business messaging, will be a key driving factor in this growth in revenue.

Communications APIs provide connections between operator networks and external applications; allowing third-party developers to integrate operator communication services into their applications.

An extract from the new report is now available as a free download.

Declining SMS Revenue Necessitates API Development

To mitigate declining SMS revenue, operators must capitalise on the growth of rich media messaging by supporting communications APIs and offering more comprehensive messaging campaign management tools suited to RCS business messaging. These tools must include number verification for user identification and the use of LLMs (Large Language Models) for conversational AI capabilities.

API frameworks, such as the Open Gateway and CAMARA, provide the ideal platform for operators to expose these communications APIs to enterprises and increase the value proposition of RCS for mobile messaging. However, to maximise the reach of these APIs, operators must look to develop their own API platforms that enable easy integration of these APIs into third-party enterprise platforms.

Research Author Molly Gatford commented: “With the rise of Over the Top (OTT) messaging and undetected flash calling, operators’ positions in the mobile messaging space, and revenue, is under threat despite owning the networks this traffic is sent over. Communications APIs represent a perfect opportunity for operators to maintain traffic termination revenue as demand for SMS declines.”

About the Research Suite

The new research suite offers the most comprehensive assessment of the Telecommunications API market to date, including market analysis and in-depth forecasts for 60 countries. The dataset contains over 17,500 market statistics within a five-year period. It includes two ‘Competitor Leaderboards’ and an examination of current and future market opportunities.

Juniper Research has, for two decades, provided market intelligence and advisory services to the global telecommunications sector, and is retained by many of the world’s leading network operators and communications platforms.

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