Hrvatski Telekom, Nokia announce API pilot projects to expand 5G app development

Nokia and Hrvatski Telekom (HT), the largest operator in Croatia and part of Deutsche Telekom Group, are collaborating on pilot projects that connect Nokia’s Network as Code platform with developer portal to HT’s network assets. The aim is to enable developers to harness and monetize the operator’s market-leading 5G network assets and capabilities through the creation of new consumer, enterprise, and industrial applications for Hrvatski Telekom customers in Croatia and other parts of Europe.

5G-era software-based networks are programmable and monetizable beyond connectivity through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which provide developers standardized access to network functions, without having to navigate the complex underlying network technologies. Removing that burden allows developers to create new value and applications faster for their customers.

The pilot work highlights the increased collaboration and progress among Nokia’s open and growing network of API ecosystem partners, such as Infobip, the global cloud communications platform, and Elmo, a leader in teledriving technology, to utilize 5G and 4G network capabilities and generate new revenue streams.

Growing API ecosystem

Connecting Nokia and Infobip API platforms to Hrvatski Telekom’s 5G network gives developers access to a wider array of network and CPaaS APIs, allowing them to develop new use cases more easily.

Infobip’s market-leading cloud Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) provides developers with APIs for integrating real-time omnichannel communications features such as SMS, voice, and video into their applications. Nokia’s Network as Code platform offers developers APIs for using 5G network capabilities like Quality of Service on Demand.

Through Hrvatski Telekom’s 5G network, Elmo uses Infobip's communications API and Nokia’s Quality of Service on Demand capability to ensure flawless video connections for the safe, secure, and reliable delivery of Elmo’s teledriving technology.

Teledriving, an emerging use case, entails the remote operation of a vehicle via software, cameras, and sensors, in which a human driver controls the vehicle to a destination point in situations where safety, accessibility, or efficiency is a concern. Elmo has conducted several such remote driving tests successfully in Europe, some involving hundreds of kilometers across national borders between the driver’s location and the car.

Developers using Nokia’s platform can access 5G and 4G network capabilities through Software Development Kits (SDK), which give them the technical ingredients to create new applications easily. Nokia SDKs support functions such as Network insights, Quality of Service on Demand, and Device location.

Nokia currently has 27 partners in Europe, North and South America, and Asia that utilize its platform, including operators such as BT, DISH, Orange, Telefonica, and Telecom Argentina. Nokia’s partnering expands well beyond the operator base to include hyperscalers like Google Cloud, CPaaS platform providers, large system integrators, and vertical Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).

Boris Drilo, CTIO, at Hrvatski Telekom said: “Through collaboration on piloting projects, with Nokia and other partners, we are exploring the great opportunities that could arise from unlocking the full potential of connecting new platforms with 5G network capabilities. Ensuring high-performing networks, foundational for the launch of new use cases across industries and businesses not only Croatia but across the globe, is essential for developers in creating new game-changing applications.”

Matija Ražem, VP of Business Development, at Infobip said: “Offering a simplified developer experience is key to making network APIs commercially attractive. The strong partnership between Nokia, Hrvatski Telekom and Elmo is yet another demonstration of how the growing ecosystem of APIs is producing tangible solutions for providers and end users. Infobip is playing a key role as a CPaaS platform by offering APIs to enrich the services available in the market."

Enn Laansoo, Jr., Founder and CEO, at Elmo said: “Through tremendous collaboration with Nokia, Infobip, and Hrvatski Telekom, we are overcoming network challenges, such as peak time overload which can degrade video quality, to ensure the flawless connectivity required for remotely and securely operating Elmo vehicles, even during periods of high network traffic.”

Shkumbin Hamiti, Head of Network Monetization Platform, Cloud and Network Services, at Nokia said: “With Nokia’s Network as Code platform and open and growing ecosystem of API partners, Hrvatski Telekom will benefit from having more choice, flexibility, and extreme automation to create new value for its customers. As a B2B technology innovation leader, Nokia is driving the next evolution of networking to unlock new network applications with our platform.”