Sophia Antipolis, France, 4 November 2025
ETSI's Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) Industry Specification Group is pleased to announce the release of a comprehensive set of specifications for its Phase 4 work, accompanied by a White Paper developed in collaboration with the Linux Foundation’s CAMARA project and TM Forum. This document offers developers practical guidance for universal access to service APIs across the industry.
The White Paper clarifies how ETSI MEC service APIs complement open-source implementations like CAMARA Service APIs. It focuses on aligning definitions from a developer’s perspective, identifying commonalities, and offering best practices for API exposure and interworking. It also highlights ETSI MEC's support for application development, including the Edge Native Connector -an evolution of the ETSI MEC Sandbox- as explained in the webinar "Edge Native Connector: Enhancing MEC Sandbox for 5G and Beyond".
This work marks a significant step toward edge-native software development aligned with 3GPP, CAMARA, and GSMA, reinforcing ETSI’s commitment to bridging standards and open‑source initiatives.
Key achievements of Phase 4 include ETSI GR MEC 043, which addresses the challenges of complexity for vertical application developers by proposing developer-friendly, abstracted APIs for exposing network information to vertical industries - without requiring deep knowledge of 3GPP networks.
Other examples of the group's progress include ETSI GS MEC 011 on Edge Platform Application Enablement, introducing critical updates to support application developers, ETSI GS MEC 003, delivering enhancement to MEC architecture, ETSI GR MEC 047 on distributed computing, and ETSI GR MEC 36 addressing edge computing in IoT and mobile devices, and extending MEC’s reach to the far edge.
"The MEC group is always focused on supporting app developers for the edge. Our recent ETSI White Paper, co-authored with CAMARA and TM Forum, demonstrates strong synergy with other organisations", said Dario Sabella, Chair of ETSI MEC. "It provides guidance on how developers can consume APIs from standards bodies, open-source communities, and industry collaborations. The edge market continues to expand its footprint, creating new opportunities for application development. Since data exposure and APIs will keep growing in the future, we will continue exploring these key topics, with increasing attention on security, privacy and impact on regulations".
"The successful launch of version 1.10 of the MEC Sandbox has been a major milestone for the group, providing alignment with 3GPP CAPIF and initial support for 3GPP EDGEAPP service provisioning, enabler client registration and application discovery", said Walter Featherstone, Chair of ISG MEC working group DECODE. "The future evolution toward the Edge Native Connector is very positive, with work already planned in 2026 for enhanced radio network emulation and further expansion on tool’s edge federation capabilities. Collaboration with ETSI’s Open CAPIF and Operator Platform Software Development Groups will be key".
With more Specifications and enhanced application developer collateral expected as Phase 4 progresses, ETSI remains at the forefront of shaping the future of edge computing.
For more information, visit the ETSI MEC technology page.
About ETSI
ETSI is one of only three bodies officially recognised by the European Union as a European Standards Organisation (ESO). It is an independent, not-for-profit body dedicated to ICT standardisation. With over 900 member organisations from more than 60 countries across five continents, ETSI offers an open and inclusive environment for members representing large and small private companies, research institutions, academia, governments, and public organisations. ETSI supports the timely development, ratification, and testing of globally applicable standards for ICT‑enabled systems, applications, and services across all sectors of industry and society.
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