Telco network APIs hit million-dollar revenue surge

China currently dominates this emerging sector with over 90% of global adoption volume.

Telecommunications executives said network application programming interfaces (APIs) are beginning to generate revenue in the millions of dollars, but scaling them will require deeper operator collaboration and structural change.

Speaking at the 2026 Asian Telecom Summit in Singapore, industry leaders discussed whether Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) and APIs could unlock new revenue streams for telcos. They emphasised collaboration, ecosystem partnerships, and practical use cases as critical to scaling adoption.

“Traction is there,” said Jawwad Zaki, IT Director at Telenor. “Numbers go into millions of USD already.”

“In Asia, the global market—though reaching around a billion USD—may seem small compared with the overall telecom business, but for NaaS, it represents a significant increase,” he added.

However, Zaki noted that adoption remains concentrated. “Looking at figures from around one to one and a half years ago, over 90% came from a single market, China.”

The panellists stressed that exposing APIs alone will not drive scale.

“It’s good to say that I have 1000 APIs which I can open up,” said Saurabh Ohri, vice president and general manager for Asia at Circles. “But you have to solve some real industry problem.”

Ohri cited real-time risk checks for banks and fintechs as a potential use case, where telcos could leverage network data to support onboarding and fraud detection.

ShuFen Lin, head of enterprise mobility product and IoT at Singtel, said customers are not seeking APIs themselves.

“Customers do not look for APIs. They look for a solution to the fraud that they have,” she said. “Telcos can extend the ecosystem northbound, partnering with independent software vendors and solution providers, and embed these APIs within practical use cases.”

Lin added that operators must demonstrate capability beyond connectivity. “A right to play has to be earned first,” she said, pointing to the need to orchestrate cloud, connectivity and enterprise systems.

Executives also acknowledged legacy constraints within telecom organisations.

“How can we orchestrate business decisioning real time and not wait for weeks before my platforms can come out with some kind of tangible view?” Ohri said.

Rather than competing directly with hyperscalers, the panel favoured collaboration.

“Winning formula may not be essentially competition,” Zaki said, adding that telcos should expose capabilities through platforms where developer communities already operate.

Opening up core network capabilities requires a cultural shift, he added.

“Change is not about bringing in a tech stack or just engaging the developer community,” Zaki said. “It is also about encouraging an ecosystem where telcos’ core, which has always been locked, is now open for certain capabilities to be used by people that we didn’t know before.”

Timotius Max Sulaiman, chief executive officer of MyRepublic Indonesia, said consolidation can also support scale. “Collaboration is key.”

“My company focuses solely on the FTTH layer,” Sulaiman said. “We are currently in the process of merging with the largest backbone provider in Indonesia, Moratel.”

Whilst MyRepublic focuses on business-to-consumer, Moratel specialises in business-to-business. The merger enables the group to serve both segments and expand network access to other players in Indonesia.