So, you’re going to bake a cake. First, you need to gather the raw ingredients — the eggs, the flour, the milk. Then you need a recipe, the instructions that will guide you to a beautiful, delicious creation.

Now, let’s apply this scenario to the world of network-powered solutions: Aduna provides the ingredients (network data), while Vonage provides the steps to help Communication Service Providers (CSPs) monetize their network intelligence by creating smart, engaging applications.

Aduna’s primary goal is to help CSPs (essentially, mobile carriers and internet providers) make money from their networks beyond only carrying traffic. How? By establishing an open platform that exposes, extracts, and aggregates data from the networks in the form of network APIs. And Vonage serves as the essential, proven interface for developers and enterprises to put this data to use.

Aduna is a landmark joint venture between Ericsson and some of the world's leading telecom operators, dedicated to enabling developers worldwide to accelerate innovation by leveraging mobile networks via common, standardized network APIs.

In effect, Aduna functions as a "super aggregator" that handles the heavy lifting of contracting and technical integrations with mobile network operators to provide an easy-to-use platform for partners. Aduna doesn’t engage directly with enterprises like banks or gaming companies; instead, they rely on a partnership network to sell and deploy solutions.

With Aduna, Ericsson aims to help CSPs monetize their infrastructure by demonstrating the revenue potential beyond basic traffic carriage through abstracting network capabilities into APIs.

Established by Ericsson, Aduna is made up of a layer of venture partners: AT&T, Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telekom, KDDI, Orange, Reliance Jio, Singtel, Telefonica, Telstra, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Vodafone.

Under that sit Aduna's developer platform partners — the companies that distribute its aggregated APIs to developers — including Google Cloud, Infobip, Sinch, and Vonage.

(Note that, although Vonage is a subsidiary of Ericsson, Aduna maintains an agnostic and neutral position to ensure they fulfill their business plan's revenue projections and retain industry credibility. Ericsson’s goal is to help Communication Service Providers (CSPs) monetize their networks, while Vonage serves as the essential interface for developers and enterprises.)

Aduna functions as a technology platform within the API ecosystem, connecting mobile network operators with organizations interested in mobile intelligence. The platform, which is supported by investors such as Telefónica, Vodafone, and Singtel, was created to address the complexity of sourcing mobile network data, including information related to mobile devices, SIMs, and accounts.

Aduna as aggregation and harmonization layer

Aduna operates on a standardized platform based on the CAMARA open-source project, driven by the GSMA and the Linux Foundation, to foster collaboration, enhance user experiences, and drive industry growth. CAMARA is dedicated to exposing telco network capabilities through APIs. By simplifying telco network complexity with APIs and making the APIs available across telco networks and countries, CAMARA enables easy and seamless access.

Aduna is an intermediary that implements CAMARA standards to harmonize and aggregate raw network data from various CSPs into a single code base. For Vonage, this aggregation allows it to source network API data so businesses can communicate with customers, regardless of which network the customer is on. 

The path to Aduna

The mobile API industry initially utilized a GSMA framework called Mobile Connect, but it failed to scale due to a lack of defined standards. 

Mobile network operators developed APIs individually and inconsistently. As a result, businesses were forced to negotiate separate contracts, service level agreements, and technical integrations with each individual operator. 

The newer CAMARA framework has improved standardization, but the challenge of navigating relationships with multiple operators remains a significant hurdle. 

Today, CSPs face flat growth and need new ways to monetize their networks. A single network API interaction, for example a "silent auth" bank login, generates negligible revenue. Profitability requires a vast number of interactions. That’s where Aduna comes in.

At its core, Vonage's role in Aduna is to provide the B2B expertise and developer platform that can drive the massive volume of API calls necessary for the ecosystem to succeed.

While Aduna focuses on aggregating APIs for hyperscalers and CPaaS companies, Vonage targets the enterprise and developer market, leveraging a 15-year history of API-based solutions. With 1.8 million registered developers, Vonage provides the tools, dashboards, debugging, and AI-powered development support that Aduna lacks, positioning Vonage as the primary face to the customer.

Additionally, while Aduna provides a single API, Vonage offers a full suite of services like messaging, voice, and contact centers to build entire customer experiences.

Developers typically lack interest in the underlying telecom infrastructure and don’t want to manage individual relationships with every global CSP. Vonage solves this by packaging network capabilities—such as Verify and Identity Insights—into high-level API solutions that mix Camara APIs with other channels like WhatsApp, RCS, or voice. This abstraction allows developers to build applications without needing to understand the underlying network complexities. 

Another area where Vonage shines is regulatory requirements, including 10 DLC for SMS and Stir Shaken for voice, major factors in the telecommunications industry. Vonage provides a "Network Registry" tool and supporting dashboards that allow developers to programmatically manage API access and compliance across multiple countries and networks, simplifying what would otherwise be a burdensome process.

Early adoption of network APIs is heavily focused on fraud prevention, so it makes sense that Vonage and Aduna are developing a portfolio of fraud-related solutions. For example, Vonage is already providing customers with Silent Authentication, SIM Swap, and Subscriber Match.

(Aduna is also preparing for the U.S. launch of an advanced "number verify" service, available across all three major carriers, that will address previous limitations such as inoperability while on Wi-Fi.)

Of course, fraud prevention is absolutely vital. Scammers cause businesses and customers millions of dollars in losses every year. But Vonage is demonstrating that API adoption provides value well beyond traditional fraud mitigation. Businesses like Lydia and Freenow use these seamless capabilities to increase sign-up conversions, enhance overall customer experience, and more.

More advanced APIs, like Quality on Demand (QOD), have been proven in labs but are not currently commercially available. QOD will eventually enable use cases like remote surgery, but will require 5G Standalone (5G SA) or 6G networks to be reliable. 

Learn more about the Aduna and Vonage partnership.