Japanese telecommunications operator KDDI has joined Aduna, a joint venture between leading global telecom operators and Ericsson, as an equity partner. In an announcement on Wednesday, Aduna said, "KDDI will further strengthen Aduna's vision of accelerating the adoption and innovation of common network Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) by developers on a global scale."
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KDDI Joins Aduna
Aduna was launched in September 2024 to simplify global access to network APIs. The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions. Aduna's partners include America Movil, AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Reliance Jio, Singtel, Telefonica, Telstra, T-Mobile, Verizon, Vodafone and Ericsson.
KDDI will collaborate by sharing expertise and resources, including technical skills and marketing, to enhance Aduna's scope and impact, bolstering the venture's goal to create open, non-discriminatory access to advanced network capabilities, according to the official release said.
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KDDI’s Role in Aduna
CTO of KDDI, said: "By joining Aduna, we're enabling broader access to advanced network capabilities through APIs, empowering developer platforms to drive innovation on a global scale. Each new network integrated into this unified platform helps create an ecosystem where advanced applications can flourish, bringing seamless connectivity and enhanced services to more businesses and consumers than ever before."
CEO of Aduna, added: "The addition of KDDI underscores Aduna's commitment to reshaping the telecom industry through the power of network APIs. By partnering with KDDI, a global leader with a strong legacy of innovation, we are setting the stage for a new era of possibilities for developers, businesses, and consumers. With the new and more advanced applications that can be built with network APIs, Aduna will unlock new revenue opportunities, transform business operations, and enhance customer experiences with innovative solutions that are truly differentiating."
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"The inclusion of KDDI highlights Aduna's industry-wide appeal and the joint potential of maximizing revenue opportunities while improving the developer experience," Ericsson said.
Aduna Partners with Infobip
In another development, Aduna announced that it will enter into a strategic partnership with Infobip, a Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) provider, to drive demand and innovation in the ecosystem and expand the reach of advanced network APIs.
Infobip enables developers to integrate real-time communication features and network APIs into their applications. Infobip's live network APIs include Number Verify and SIM Swap, and the company is also expanding its offerings with new use cases, including Device Location and Quality-on-Demand APIs. Infobip is a provider of native-built technology capable of reaching a significant number of users on operator networks, Ericsson said.
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In 2024, Vonage and Google Cloud joined as initial channel partners. "The planned addition of Infobip as a partner to Aduna, will further accelerate the expansion of the network API ecosystem through Infobip’s sizable developer community and huge enterprise market connections, which are already proving the importance of CPaaS in combination with network APIs in different markets," Ericsson highlighted.
Infobip also brings a chain of existing customers who find onboarding network APIs relatively simple and easy to adopt.
