In today's era of continuously deepening digital economy development, an increasing number of enterprises are choosing to expand their operations beyond borders and explore global markets. Whether it is the cross-border flow of goods in e-commerce, the international extension of financial services, or the global promotion of social and gaming products, all rely on secure and convenient identity authentication processes. Although this process may seem minor, it directly impacts user experience and business security, making it an indispensable support for enterprises on their path to globalization.
China Unicom, Hong Kong HKT, Huawei, and METAVERSE CLOUD have joined forces to jointly develop the OpenGateway cross-operator converged authentication solution. Leveraging the technical integration of global operators' number verification and one-time password SMS (OTP-SMS) core capabilities, this solution uses technological innovation to build a "bridge" for cross-operator authentication. It not only addresses practical challenges faced by enterprises in their globalization journey but also provides users with a smoother and more seamless experience.
On the Road to Globalization: Those Unavoidable "Stumbling Blocks"
For businesses operating across borders, globalization brings opportunities but also comes with practical challenges. Service capabilities of operators vary across different regions, technical standards differ, and compliance policies also differ. To connect with certification services in multiple regions, companies often need to invest significant human and material resources to adapt their systems, which not only prolongs the time required to launch services but also increases operational costs.
Traditional authentication methods also have room for improvement. For example, the SMS-based verification code model, on one hand, is difficult to fully prevent malicious activities such as fake registrations, potentially leading to a waste of marketing resources. On the other hand, the cumbersome verification process may cause some users to lose patience, affecting user experience and business conversion rates. In addition, the traditional model of obtaining operator capabilities through intermediaries occasionally leads to unstable links and delayed responses, indirectly impacting the end-user experience.
These issues are not insurmountable, yet they genuinely affect the pace of globalization for enterprises. How to build an efficient, secure, and stable cross-operator authentication system that helps enterprises avoid detours and provides a smoother user experience has become a common concern in the industry.
Collaboration for Breakthrough: Building a "Convenient Bridge" through Synergy and Innovation
In response to the common needs of the industry, the four partners, upholding the principle of open collaboration, have jointly explored a practical and feasible solution. The OpenGateway cross-operator converged authentication solution is guided by the GSMA Open Gateway concept and integrates Huawei's 5G core network technology with platform federation technology. It consolidates the core authentication capabilities of different operators to create a unified and standardized service system.
What makes this solution particularly convenient for enterprises is its "one-point access, global invocation" model. International companies no longer need to individually connect with operators in different regions. Instead, they can easily invoke the network capabilities of multiple mainstream operators, such as China Unicom and Hong Kong HKT, through the unified API interface of the OpenGateway platform, without worrying about inconsistencies in interface specifications or technical standards. This design significantly simplifies the technical deployment process, reducing the time required for capability integration from several months to just a few weeks, enabling enterprises to accelerate their overseas business expansion.
The solution has also carefully considered the balance between security and user experience. It adopts a primary-backup design that prioritizes phone number verification while using SMS verification as a secondary option. This approach not only prevents risks at the source through high-security-level phone number verification but also automatically switches to convenient SMS verification in special cases to ensure uninterrupted service. In addition, the integration of intelligent routing and multi-channel redundancy mechanisms further enhances service stability across different carriers, eliminating users' concerns about lag or delays during the verification process.
Compliance with the CAMARA standard's standardized encapsulation also allows developers to quickly integrate authentication services without worrying about underlying technical differences, significantly lowering the barrier to technical adaptation. This enables more enterprises to enjoy the convenience brought by cross-carrier authentication innovation.
Bringing Value to More Industries and Users: Making Innovation Accessible
Today, OpenGateway's cross-carrier unified authentication solution has been commercially implemented in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong regions. It has quietly integrated into the daily operations of various industries, including social media, gaming, finance, and e-commerce, covering hundreds of millions of mobile phone users. The solution processes over 20 million authentication requests daily, providing solid and reliable security support for both enterprises and users.
In the financial industry, the solution helps cross-border banks effectively prevent account theft risks, with fraudulent loan applications decreasing by 60%, thus providing users with greater assurance of their funds' safety. In the cross-border e-commerce sector, false registrations and malicious arbitrage activities have been reduced by approximately 75%, and marketing resource waste has been cut by 65%. This not only protects the legitimate rights and interests of businesses but also makes the shopping environment more trustworthy for genuine users. On social media and gaming platforms, the streamlined authentication process has increased the retention rate of new users by 28%, and user complaints have significantly decreased, allowing more people to enjoy the fun brought by digital products smoothly.
For enterprises, the solution offers more than just optimized operational costs—long-term maintenance costs have been reduced by over 50%, and anti-fraud costs have been cut by 40%. It also allows companies to focus more on innovation in their core businesses. "Previously, we had to coordinate multiple teams when dealing with operators in different regions. Now, one interface can handle everything, saving us a lot of trouble," said a manager of a cross-border enterprise. The convenience of the solution has given them more confidence in expanding into overseas markets.
Walking Together: Building a Broader Cross-Operator Authentication Ecosystem
Currently, the OpenGateway cross-operator converged authentication solution is steadily advancing the integration of operators in Southeast Asia, including Singapore and Indonesia. Its service coverage continues to expand, and it is expected to support more enterprises and users in additional regions in the future. With its modular architecture design, the solution is capable of rapid replication and promotion, and is expected to become a mature model in the global cross-operator authentication field.
The success of this solution is inseparable from the joint efforts of four key partners, and it further demonstrates the value of open collaboration in the industry. It has broken down the barriers between operators' capabilities and established a reusable digital ecosystem collaboration model, providing a valuable reference for the interconnection of global digital infrastructure. In the future, this collaborative model will extend to more areas, giving rise to a richer variety of service forms, making cross-operator digital services more convenient, secure, and efficient.
From solving practical problems to building an ecosystem, the joint exploration by China Unicom, Hong Kong HKT, Huawei, and METAVERSE CLOUD has paved a smooth "digital pathway" for enterprises on their global expansion journey through technological innovation and collaborative cooperation. In the wave of global digital economy, the OpenGateway cross-operator converged authentication solution will continue to adopt an open and inclusive approach, connecting more partners and benefiting more users, injecting lasting momentum into the harmonious development of the global digital economy.