diff --git a/net/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/ProviderService.java b/net/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/ProviderService.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8a7d7e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/net/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/ProviderService.java
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+package org.onlab.onos.net;
+
+/**
+ * Abstraction of a service through which providers can inject information
+ * about the network environment into the core.
+ */
+public interface ProviderService {
+}