For years, digital identity has been treated as a problem of credentials. Create stronger passwords. Add biometrics. Introduce passkeys. Verify documents. Build better authentication journeys.
While these innovations have undoubtedly improved security and user experience, fraud continues to grow. Account takeovers are increasing. Synthetic identities are becoming more sophisticated. AI-generated attacks are scaling faster than traditional defenses.
The reason is simple: Most identity systems verify who someone claims to be. Very few can verify what is happening on the network itself. That is beginning to change.
The missing layer in digital identity
Every digital interaction happens across a network. When a user logs into a bank account, authorizes a payment, resets a password, or creates a new digital identity, there is always a mobile device, a SIM, a phone number, and a network connection involved. Yet historically, identity ecosystems have treated mobile networks as transport infrastructure rather than trust infrastructure.
Telecommunication operators possess unique real-time signals that are extremely difficult for fraudsters to manipulate, such as SIM ownership and lifecycle, phone number tenure, SIM swap events, device-to-SIM relationships, network authentication status, mobile subscriber verification and presence and location consistency.
These signals have existed for years, but until recently they were largely inaccessible to developers and digital service providers. That is exactly what is changing through initiatives such as GSMA Open Gateway and CAMARA APIs.
From connectivity providers to trust providers
The telecommunications industry is undergoing a significant transformation. Operators are no longer providing only connectivity services. They are delivering trusted network capabilities through standardized APIs that can be consumed globally. Examples include Number Verification, SIM Swap Detection, and Device & Subscriber Verification.
Mobile identity is now evolving into the combination of verified subscriber information, trusted network intelligence, and secure device interactions that continuously strengthen trust throughout a digital journey. The rise of mobile identity into this unique combination matters as the digital security landscape is rapidly shifting. AI is changing fraud economics. Regulations are raising expectations. Consumers expect frictionless security.
Building the identity ecosystem together
Identity providers, financial institutions, governments, technology platforms, and telecommunications operators each possess part of the trust puzzle. Together, these capabilities create a stronger and more resilient trust ecosystem.
The next chapter of digital identity will therefore be defined by how effectively we combine trusted signals from multiple sources to make better trust decisions. Mobile networks are uniquely positioned to become one of those foundational trust sources. For years, mobile networks connected people and devices. The next step is clear: They can help connect trust itself.
By Ivan Marjanovic-Zulim
Identity Week Europe 2026, Amsterdam
