Linklaters has advised a consortium of leading telecoms operators, comprised of AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica, T-Mobile, Verizon and Vodafone, on the formation of a new venture with Ericsson, to combine and sell network Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) on a global scale to spur innovation in digital services.

Network APIs are an easy way to access and use network capabilities. The newly formed company will combine network APIs globally, with a vision that new applications will work anywhere and, on any network, making it easier and quicker for developers to innovate. It will provide network APIs to a broad ecosystem of developer platforms, including hyperscalers (HCPs), Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) providers, System Integrators (SIs) and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), based on existing industry-wide CAMARA APIs (the open-source project driven by the GSMA and the Linux Foundation).

Easily accessible advanced network capabilities will open up the next frontier in app development and empower developers to create new use cases across many sectors.

The new venture’s shareholders will bring funding and important assets, including Ericsson’s platform and network expertise, global telecom operator relationships, knowledge of the developer community and each telecom operator’s network APIs, expertise and marketing.

The transaction is expected to close during the first half of calendar 2025, subject to regulatory approvals (including merger control and FDI) and other customary conditions. Upon closing, Ericsson will hold 50% of the equity in the venture while the telecom providers will hold 50% in total.

The Linklaters team was led by Corporate partners Hugo Stolkin and Dominic da Gama Campos (both London) and Antitrust & Foreign Investment partners William Leslie (Brussels) and John Eichlin (NYC).

They were supported by Corporate counsel Josh Feit (NYC) and managing associates Sarah Nicholson, Matt Watson and Maria Ziprani (all London), Antitrust & Foreign Investment partners David-Julien dos Santos Goncalves (Düsseldorf), Malgorzata Szwaj (Warsaw) and Ina Lunneryd and senior counsels Gerwin Van Gerven (both Brussels) and Jonathan Gafni (Washington), TMT/IP partners Paul Joseph and Julian Cunningham-Day and counsel So Yeon Um and associate Kong Xie Shern, Tax partner Chris Smale (all London) and counsel Amanda Gabai (NYC) and Employment & Incentives counsel Julie Sharp.