LOS ANGELES & MORRISTOWN, NJ – MEF and TM Forum are collaborating with major service providers in a transformational initiative to standardize Lifecycle Services Orchestration (LSO) application programming interfaces (APIs) for orchestrating connectivity services across multiple networks worldwide. In work conducted at MEF, AT&T, Orange, Colt Technology Services, Comcast, Level 3, PCCW Global, Sparkle, Verizon, and CableLabs and Kyrio are leading the effort to develop a complete suite of inter-provider LSO APIs that use the MEF LSO Framework and the TM Forum Open API framework. Standardized LSO APIs are a critical step toward enabling agile, assured, and orchestrated Third Network services over more automated, virtualized, and interconnected networks globally.

The inter-provider LSO API standardization work initially will apply to orchestrating widely deployed MEF-defined Carrier Ethernet services in a global market that IHS Markit estimates is worth $50+ billion. This work can be utilized in the future for orchestrated optical and IP services being defined by MEF and to advance digital ecosystem orchestration and management work being led by TM Forum.

The API standardization effort is being conducted within MEF in partnership with TM Forum, and is open to both MEF and TM Forum members. The current project revolves around the LSO Sonata reference point that deals with the management, operational, and business interactions between Ethernet service providers. The project will build upon and expand TM Forum’s Open API framework led by nine of the world’s largest service providers as well as initial API development contributions from AT&T, Orange, Colt, CableLabs, and Kyrio.

MEF and TM Forum members aim to accelerate inter-provider LSO API standardization by implementing a more agile development process, leveraging many of TM Forum’s 31 Open API specifications and underpinning Information Framework and architecture, and collaborating beyond organizational boundaries for the wider good of the industry. Project participants are planning for a software development “sprint” at the end of which the first inter-carrier LSO APIs will be implemented in late 2017.

Eight LSO Sonata API definitions are planned to be standardized. The first three APIs below are expected to be defined in the first round of the project – “LSO Sonata Release 1” – by the end of this year. These include address validation, service availability, ordering, quoting billing, assurance, testing and change management.

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