Adedapo Adesanya
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The acquisition of Vonage Holdings by Ericsson has been concluded, paying the way for the latter to drive the next wave of digitalization by creating a market to adopt global network Application Program Interfaces (APIs) without hassles.
In a statement, Ericsson said it would generate near-term synergies from bringing Vonage Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solutions to its existing customers and then increase its investments in research and development.
The firm said it hopes to leverage technology leadership to grow its mobile network business and expand into an enterprise, with the aim to transform the way advanced 5G network capabilities are exposed, consumed and paid for.
For Ericsson, global APIs provide a new material growth opportunity. The existing market for communications APIs – such as video, voice and SMS – is currently growing at 30 per cent annually and is projected to reach USD 22 billion by 2025.
Accessing network capabilities in open, intuitive, and programmable ways via global APIs will enable developer communities to create applications for any device that benefits from connection to the 5G network. Developers can utilize network characteristics such as user authentication, bandwidth, responsiveness, energy efficiency, security, identification and reliability – or network information such as device information or predictive coverage.
“We are excited to welcome Vonage as part of Ericsson. With Vonage’s suite of communications solutions – UCaaS, CCaaS and Communications APIs – Ericsson will further expand its offerings into the enterprise space. In the future, network capabilities will be consumed and paid for through open network APIs, creating the opportunity for unparalleled innovation.
“We have already launched the first network API, Dynamic End-user Boost, based on existing 4G infrastructure. With Vonage, we will now develop and commercialize these new APIs. We are already seeing great progress with frontrunner CSPs, and we aim to launch the first 5G network APIs in the coming year. We will continue to create new, enhanced applications and services for enterprises, while driving continued innovation on Vonage’s UCaaS and CCaaS applications, helping businesses create new digital experiences for better communications, connections and engagement,” the President and CEO of Ericsson, Börje Ekholm, said.
“By linking the network world with the global developer community, we’re creating a paradigm shift that will put the network at the centre, allowing the CSPs a new monetization opportunity supporting increasing investments in high-performance networks.
“4G was the platform that allowed the consumer to digitalize. It opened new business models and created some of the fastest-growing companies in history. With 5G, we have an innovation platform, unlike anything we’ve seen before, offering almost limitless opportunities to develop super-fast, highly reliable, low-latency and mission-critical services. With 5G, we will see accelerated digitalization of enterprises with Vonage’s UCaaS and CCaaS suite being a solid growth platform,” Ekholm added.
Vonage CEO, Rory Read, while commenting, stated that: “Vonage was born out of innovation and is today a global leader in business cloud communications.
“This partnership will strengthen our offerings to businesses across the globe by leveraging Ericsson’s leadership in 5G, global market presence and strong R&D capabilities. With the demand for UCaaS, CCaaS and Communications APIs growing rapidly, the combined expertise, talent and innovation is good news for our customers and partners.”
