Fusion of Telecommunications and IT Services Boosted by Application Programming Interfaces

Abstract

Our long journey on the road of telecommunications is continuously evolving. We have experienced several technological changes, modernizations, optimizations, and various mergers in the past decades. Virtualization and ‘cloudification’ of legacy telecommunication equipment has made communication networks not only more flexible, but also opened new doors. Brand new types of services have become available thanks to the ongoing fusion of the two domains of telecommunications and IT (Information Technology). This overview paper first discusses the evolution of services with an enhanced focus on mobile networks. Then, the possibilities offered by IT are shown. Finally, some examples are given of how Communication Service Providers and end users can benefit from these recent changes.