Why Telstra opted for Aduna Aggregator for Naap

Telstra's decision to strongly back Aduna over directly relying on Hyperscalers or CPaaS providers for its core Network as a Platform (NaaP) strategy, especially for exposing 5G APIs, is driven by a combination of strategic, technical, and financial considerations. While the open-source nature and global telco backing are significant, other aspects play a crucial role.

Here are the key considerations, in order of likely importance:

1. Strategic Control & Network Intelligence:

   • Avoiding Commoditisation: Telstra, like other major telcos, wants to avoid becoming a "dumb pipe" provider.¹ Relying solely on Hyperscalers to expose their network capabilities would mean Hyperscalers control the developer relationship, the pricing, and effectively own the "intelligent layer" of the network. Telstra would lose control over its most valuable asset – its network's unique capabilities and data.
   • Owning the Value Chain: Aduna allows Telstra to participate directly in the monetisation of advanced network features, sharing in the revenue and influencing the evolution of network APIs.This is about establishing a new, lucrative value chain for themselves, rather than being a subcontractor to a cloud provider.
   • Direct Access to Network Features: Hyperscalers and CPaaS providers, while strong on application-level APIs, don't inherently have deep, real-time access to the underlying network's granular features (e.g., dynamic QoS, precise location, network slicing). Aduna is built from the ground up to expose these specific network capabilities in a standardised way, directly from the source (the MNOs).

2. Standardisation & Global Interoperability (CAMARA/GSMA Open Gateway):

   • "Write Once, Deploy Anywhere": This is a critical driver. The CAMARA standard, strongly supported by Aduna, ensures that an application built using a Telstra-provided Network API through Aduna can theoretically run on any other Aduna-participating network globally without significant re-coding. This global interoperability is something neither individual Hyperscalers nor CPaaS providers can guarantee across multiple carrier networks.
   • Developer Ecosystem Growth: This standardisation reduces friction for developers, encouraging a much larger and more diverse ecosystem to build on network APIs, which directly benefits Telstra by increasing potential consumption of its APIs.³

3. Telco-Led Consortium & Industry Alignment:

   • Shared Vision: Aduna is a venture by telcos for telcos, in partnership with a key vendor (Ericsson).⁴ This means the strategic direction, feature prioritisation, and commercial models are aligned with the interests of mobile network operators.
   • Pooling Resources: Building a global API aggregation platform is a massive undertaking. By pooling resources and collaborating, Telstra and other major players can achieve a scale and market penetration that would be difficult or impossible for any single telco to achieve alone.
   • Open Source Nature (CAMARA): While Aduna itself is a commercial venture, it leverages the open-source CAMARA framework.⁵ This brings transparency, community contribution, and accelerated development of the underlying API specifications, which is highly appealing for avoiding vendor lock-in at the API level.

4. Revenue Generation & New Business Models (Telco 3.0 Alignment):

   • Unlocking New Revenue Streams: Aduna provides the mechanism for Telstra to move beyond commoditised connectivity to generate new revenue from the unique capabilities of its 5G network (e.g., selling guaranteed low latency, not just data).⁶ This directly aligns with the "API-based B2B2X" channel shown in Telstra's Telco 3.0 strategy image.
   • Direct Monetisation: Aduna's brokerage model allows Telstra to directly monetise its specific network assets, rather than solely relying on a Hyperscaler's broader platform fee.

5. Scalability & Global Reach:

   • While Hyperscalers are inherently scalable, Aduna's model provides network-level global scalability by aggregating multiple MNOs. This means developers can build applications that work seamlessly across borders, leveraging the combined reach of the Aduna consortium members ⁷

Why not Hyperscalers or CPaaS directly for the core NaaP strategy?

• Hyperscalers: While excellent for managing any API, they don't inherently possess the telecom-specific network intelligence or the ability to standardise APIs across multiple competing telcos. Telstra would essentially be providing its crown jewels (network capabilities) for a Hyperscaler to resell, risking disintermediation and losing control over the developer relationship.
• CPaaS Providers: They are primarily focused on communication services and usually consume network APIs from telcos (or now, aggregators like Aduna) rather than being the direct source.⁸ Relying on them would mean Telstra is one step further removed from the actual developer who is building solutions with its network capabilities. They are customers of Aduna, not alternatives for Telstra's core NaaP platform.

In conclusion, Telstra chose Aduna because it's a strategic, industry-led initiative designed specifically to productize and monetise advanced network capabilities via standardised, globally interoperable APIs, while maintaining telco control over the value chain and fostering a new, vast developer ecosystem. It's about securing Telstra's future as an integral part of the digital economy, beyond just providing connectivity.

Comparison of other Providers.

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