The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) announced today that they have delivered three Network API specifications as part of the technical framework for the separate sale of roaming services in the European Union.  EU roaming regulation III intends to promote more competition and enhance consumer choice within the European roaming environment by introducing alternative roaming providers by mid-2014.  The technical report, published by ETSI Mobile Standards Group in document TR 103 227 V1.1.1, is the result of a close collaboration between the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and the Open Mobile Alliance.

The technical solution to implement roaming unbundling requires interaction among the network elements and platforms of the actors involved. Some of these interactions are achieved through signalling interfaces and protocols, based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard.  For some other interactions, such as provisioning, an approach based on Application Programming Interfaces (API) was determined to be the most appropriate.  Specifications in this framework provided by OMA include a new Network API for Roaming Provisioning to permit interaction between the home mobile operator and the alternative roaming provider for the provisioning of a user that buys a roaming offer from an alternative roaming provider. This Roaming Provisioning Network API has been defined with both REST binding and SOAP binding.  Moreover, OMA has produced an extension of the existing REST binding, the Terminal Status Network API, in order to enable the notification from the home mobile operator to the alternative roaming provider of the subscriber's roaming status while travelling within the EU.

"It was clear to the OMA Technical Plenary that Network APIs were the best approach to fulfil this need within the technical framework," stated Francesco Vadalà, OMA Technical Plenary Chairman and OMA Representative to the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) Stakeholder Forum.  "OMA used a fast track procedure and its recognized expertise in defining Network APIs to quickly deliver high quality specifications for inclusion in this important framework."

This regulation introduces the "Separate sale of regulated retail roaming services", meaning users will be allowed to sign up for an alternative mobile roaming offer, separate from their contract for national mobile services, while using the same phone number. Beginning July 1, 2014, European Mobile Network Operators (MNO) must be ready to allow their customers to buy roaming services from an alternative roaming provider.