MEO, which is owned by Altice Portugal, announced this Thursday a new innovation program based on the fifth generation of the mobile network (5G), to explore new use cases in 5G.
The 5G API Sprint was announced by José Pedro Nascimento, chief technology officer of Altice Portugal, at the Web Summit, one of Europe's largest technology fairs, which ends this Thursday.
The new program, which is in practice a competition, is a challenge for companies, startups and programmers to create prototypes or redesign applications based on standardized telecom APIs ( TV Guide application interfaces). In other words, companies submit a proposal to develop a service or application and MEO makes available, free of charge, the definitions and protocols that underpin certain services so that programmers and interested parties can create their own solutions, acting as accelerators in the creation of services, preferably in areas such as security, robotics or health, according to the company's announcement.
Participants will be able to access the so-called CAMARA network, which is connected to features of the operator's mobile network, allowing applications and services to be used globally and integrated into the infrastructure of operators that are part of the GSMA Open Gateway Initiative, launched in 2023 and which seeks to harmonize applications and services between the telecommunications and cloud ecosystems, creating a universe of secure and interoperable networks internationally.
"The [MEO] network is a well of information. Millions of devices are connected, the information there is very complex, but it can be very useful for developing applications. And if this information is structured in the form of APIs, so that programmers can use it without accessing the complexity of the network, but can develop their applications on top of it or redesign applications for other ecosystems, we'll be exploring something that isn't being fully explored.
Therefore, this program serves to encourage companies and programmers to test, to experiment," explained José Pedro Nascimento, chief technology officer, in response to Diário de Notícias during a press conference.
The manager said that the APIs made available have been used by banks in a security context, but that they could be useful for other sectors, "such as industry, robotics, advertising, health and media".
"It's a question of programmers seeing where there is potential," he stressed.
The APIs available are: SIM Swap, which makes it possible to verify the activation of a SIM card; Device Location Retrieval, which provides the geographical location of the SIM card; Device Location Verification, which confirms that a SIM card is within a specific area; and Quality on Demand, which adjusts the quality of service according to the needs of the application or user.
How can companies, startups and programmers take part? Interested parties can submit proposals from this Thursday until December 11 on the program's website. The competition will be restricted to 30 applications, from which ten proposals will be selected. In the end, three winning ideas will be awarded a prize of five thousand euros and tickets to the 2025 edition of the Web Summit.
When asked, José Pedro Nascimento admitted that the winning proposals could be available to the entire technology ecosystem, including competing operators. "The applications that use and monetize our APIs could be open to anyone who uses this API ecosystem. That's the goal, but there may also be business models that we're interested in commercializing. It's open," he said.
By José Varela Rodrigues
Diário de Notícias