BT and EE, CK Hutchison Group TelecomVirgin Media O2 and Vodafone Group collaborate to provide the developers with powerful identity consumption and verification tools
September 23, 2025, London: BT and EE, CK Hutchison Group Telecom, Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone Group today announced the commercial launch of new network technologies in the United Kingdom that will help online platforms to verify the age of customers and combat digital fraud.
Encouraged through the GSMA Open Gateway initiative, the programmable interfaces (API) of applications standardized by camera will provide developers with simple and safe tools to protect consumers and comply with the new security laws of the United Kingdom.
The launch comes only weeks after the online security law entered into force in the United Kingdom, which requires age controls for platforms that house content generated by users. According to the AGE Verification Suppliers Association, the United Kingdom consumers are now experiencing five million additional age controls every day under the new law, which highlights the pressing need for a scalable and frictionless verification.
Speaking in API Days London, BT and EE, Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone Group described the launch of the age stated by camera verify and know the API of possession of their client (KYC) for the developers, with an improved Kyc Match API, with diffuse logical capabilities, which continue before the end of the year.
Collaboration addresses two pressing challenges in the United Kingdom digital panorama: the need for solid age verification after new legal protection laws and the growing threat of online fraud.
People in the United Kingdom lost £ 11.4 billion in scam last year, according to the last of the global alliance (GASA). The state of the scams in the United Kingdom report. Throughout the world, GASA estimates that criminals scammed more than $ 1 billion of victims last year, even more emphasizing the need for mobile industry to work together with online banks and retailers through global standardized technology initiatives to address the problem.
Technology partners ready to market for developers
Technology companies are now being associated with operators from the United Kingdom to market these API, connecting them with entertainment and online trade sites to help implement age verification and identity protection capabilities.
Jersey Telecom (JT Group) and TMT.ID are already working with the United Kingdom operators to process hundreds of thousands of calls of networks per month to support a wide range of services, from the age guarantee for social media platforms to the safer and more safe registration and login experiences.
In addition to other camera API already available in the market, operators now provide the additional three API developers to support consumer protection and fraud prevention:
- KYC Age Verification API (Available now): Check if a customer is eligible for products and services restricted by age. Since operators already administer verified user data, such as the date of birth linked to mobile numbers, can provide a perfect and compatible solution with privacy for digital platforms. The API can be applied in several scenarios, including transmission services, game platforms, online markets and adult content websites, ensuring compliance with regulations while reducing friction in user experience.
- Kyc tenura API (Available now): It helps to generate confidence in providing a simple and efficient method to determine if a telephone number has been in use for a significant period, offering a strong indicator of user stability and reducing the dependence of self -informed identity data. Verify whether the life number of a given telephone number is longer than an entry date provided by the customer.
- Kyc Match API (Available for the end of 2025): It allows companies to verify information among customers with verified records maintained by the user's mobile network operator, as part of their KYC process (know your client). This cross verification comparison can include details such as the mobile phone number, the name, the postal code, the address, the date of birth and the email address. It is important to highlight that no personal identification information (PII) is shared in the process, ensuring user privacy while allowing a safe and precise verification.
Henry Calvert, Chief of Networks, GSMA, said: “The age guarantee is only an area where the intelligent use of mobile networks can support entertainment and online trade sites, and safeguard consumers. By giving developers, easier and safer access to the rich network functionality of mobile networks, we can also use the intelligence of the network in the fight against fraud and scams. We have already seen the results of the United Kingdom mobile operators and banks that have achieved through the scam signal and hope to build on these bases. “
Malcolm Cubitt, product director, mobile in the BT Group consumers division, said: “A safer online ecosystem has long been a priority for BT Group. As the platforms work to meet the regulatory requirements, we have continued to deliver innovative solutions without problems that admit low friction security controls. The Gateway Open GSMA initiative offers developers the tools to help build a safer digital environment. Fraud, while creating a safe and reliable ecosystem for the safe and reliable country as a whole. “
Matt Hemingway, Network Head as a service, Virgin Media O2, said: “Through GSMA Open Gateway, Virgin Media O2 is taking a position against digital fraud and identity theft. By launching these first APIs, we are giving companies and developers the tools they need to offer more safe and reliable digital experiences for consumers. This is a vital step in the construction of a safer connectivity system for the safer connectivity for the United Kingdom.”
Francesco Zampini, Director of Digital Devices and Products and Services, CK Hutchison IOD: “Identity is essential to generate confidence in the digital economy. Our ability to verify who we are the ones provided with reaching the highest levels of the levels.
Johanna Wood, director of Network API, Vodafone Group said: “Vodafone undertakes to create a safer digital ecosystem for all. Through the GSMA Open Gateway initiative, these new API provide developers and companies with the tools to offer an age verification without problems and a solid fraud prevention. This continuous collaboration between the United Kingdom operators marks a significant step to protect consumers, ensuring compliance with new security laws digital economy “.
Henry Howe, Head of Development of Mobile Intelligence Products, JT said: '' JT is working in close collaboration with the United Kingdom operators to help take these APIs to the market, allowing developers to access trust network data both for protection and for commercial use. Age verification is especially important since platforms respond to new security laws and increased expectations on online protection. These API offer a practical way of protecting children, reducing fraud and rationalizing incorporation, which is easier for companies to build safe and compatible digital experiences. ''
Matthew Hornnsey, Product and Purchasing Head, TMT ID: “Each year, TMT ID processes millions of Network API calls in the United Kingdom and worldwide for many different cases, including the guarantee of age guarantee for social platforms, verification of identity in financial services to make it possible to register and log in to their favorite application without user names and passwords. Open and standardized network APIs are vital to allow the agent ecosystem to create reliable connections between people and organizations worldwide. “
Commitment to continuous innovation
Looking towards 2026, the United Kingdom operators plan to expand their API portfolio with additional services focused on identity and fraud prevention, as well as advanced quality quality capabilities that take advantage of the 5G infrastructure for greater availability, latency and performance performance.
The initiative of the United Kingdom is part of the GSMA Open Gateway program, which now includes more than 79 groups of mobile operators representing 291 networks and almost 80% of mobile connections worldwide. By gathering operators around the world, the GSMA Open Gateway initiative facilitates the design of digital products capable of operating perfectly on all devices, regardless of the country or operator. The API of the service are available through the camera repository, an open source project of the Linux Foundation and a fundamental part of the GSMA Open Gateway initiative.
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