In June 2022, we proposed an initiative to implement a more modern API interface across our Customer Order Manager (currently known as B2B). After receiving significant support from the industry, this initiative is now moving from co-design to build for the first of seven APIs. These APIs will eventually replace the B2B, making it easier and more cost-efficient for you to connect to our fibre process, adopt enhancements and innovate your customer experience.

What’s in it for you?

• The new RESTful APIs will be easier to understand and less labour-intensive for your organisation to connect to.  
• The APIs use a more modern development language and won’t require specialised development resources, which B2B does today.  
• Easier testing to increase self-serve capability.   
• Service availability during changes to the Fibre Ordering suite will increase, meaning fewer outages and disruptions.  
• A new versioning approach will mean greater flexibility about how and when you choose to adopt changes, we make to the Fibre Ordering suite.  
• Like other LFCs, we will use TMForum Open API standards wherever possible and collaborate with the other LFCs on design to increase alignment of the API approach.  

This initiative is underway and includes representation from across the industry with many Retail Service Providers (RSPs) participating; here is a snapshot of how it's progressing.  

Co-Design Series  

In late 2022 we gathered a group of 30 representatives from across the industry (RSPs and LFCs) and kicked off a sequence of virtual co-design sessions. Each session is on a different topic related to the initiative. We seek to understand more and work together to design APIs and eco-system solutions that use modern design standards that will work for everyone.   

 So far, we have designed three APIs, our revised versioning process and understand what you expect from our broader eco-system experience. These designs are then refined and re-validated with the co-design forum until they are ready to handover to the various implementation teams.  

These co-design sessions happen every 4-6 weeks and will continue throughout 2023. We have four more APIs and further eco-system improvements to tackle throughout the year. If you want to participate in the co-design and aren’t already – please reach out to your account team. 

Build squad

A large squad has been assembled and begins build of the first API this week (Place API) and many foundational improvements. The build will continue until the end-to-end B2B capability is recreated across the seven new APIs and all beta phases have concluded into full release. 

Future

The co-design sessions will continue throughout 2023. Once all API designs are validated, the forum will move into seeking feedback on the experience of adopting and using the APIs, and supporting processes to ensure we continually learn and improve on the experience.

RSPs will be invited to integrate into each of our APIs once they are released into beta and then full release.  

You can also find more detail in our wider change roadmap or on our project page. 

B2B  

When the end-to-end B2B capability is recreated within the seven APIs, we will issue the 12-month decommissioning notice for fibre B2B. Although this is some time away, we suggest careful consideration for any NEW RSPs considering integration into our current B2B channel, knowing that decommissioning is on the horizon. 

For those customers already using B2B, we suggest you begin forecasting investment for this now, to enable you to implement the APIs in a gradual approach, to 

• get familiar with each API as they are deployed,
• assess your change impact and
• implement the change within your applications  

Contact 

We will share another update at the next key milestone around the time the first API (Place API) is to be released into production. 

Before then, if you have any questions, please ask your account team; many of you also have technical folks from within your organisation participating in the co-design series who are entirely up to date with our progress. If you don’t have anyone participating, contact your account team and we can invite them to future sessions.