Blockbuster Inc. (www.blockbuster.com) by year's end expects to deliver network-hosted, on-demand content in several U.S. cities via DSL connections. While the deal indicates a possible re-emergence of video on demand, more importantly, it underlines the growing role Internet backbone and content distribution service providers like Enron Broadband Services (www.enron.net), Akamai Technologies Inc. (www.akamai.com) and Digital Island Inc. (www.digitalisland.net) are playing in the marketplace as streaming and other new content hits the pipes.
The Integrator
The pivotal player in the Blockbuster deal is Internet infrastructure company Enron Corp. (www.enron.com) subsidiary Enron Broadband Services. As part of the deal, Enron will use its global network, distributed server architecture and network software to encode, store and deliver the content to last-mile broadband service providers Covad Communications Co. (www.covad.com), Qwest Communications International Inc. (www.qwest.com), ReFlex Communications Inc. (www.reflexcomm.com), SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com), Telus Corp. (www.telus. com) and Verizon Communications (www.verizon.com).
"Enron gets into these deals for the long run with brick and mortar companies. We're partnering with them as they develop the broadband services of the future," says April Hodgson, vice president of media services at Enron Broadband Services, who says its 20-year agreement with Blockbuster could go well beyond video on demand to include games and other content genres. Hodgson adds that Enron Broadband Services is also working with Blockbuster to develop set-top box technology and back-office procedures like credit card billing and customer service, as well as digital rights management as part of the deal.
"Enron is creating a fully integrated broadband marketplace," she says. "That's intelligence we can bring that no one else has at this point. We are something of an integrator there."
For example, Enron Broadband Services offers MediaCast reporting, which tracks such information as what time a user came on the system, how long the user watched, at what bit rate and the IP address of the user. The content provider gets all this information less than 24 hours from when the user transaction occurred, she says.
According to Hodgson, Enron also has a unique relationship with its distribution partners. "We're helping drive DSL-- bringing [DSL providers] together with content providers. We support them in marketing and development. It's obviously easier for them to get it all at one place," she says.
In addition to acting as a liaison between last-mile network operators and content providers, Enron Broadband Services operates what it calls the Enron Intelligent Network, which includes a "pure IP" fiber network spanning 20,000 miles at speeds up to 10gbps. The network runs through Amsterdam, Netherlands; Frankfurt, Germany; London; Paris; and the United States. The Enron Intelligent Network also consists of a "One Hop" community of distributed servers as well as the company's proprietary operating system, which is the intelligence that controls QoS and provides risk management and delivery logistics.
Streaming Support
Enron Broadband Services also operates a private network of server equipment to support streaming applications. Cisco Systems Inc. (www.cisco.com) 7206VXR routers and 6509 switches; Sun Microsystems Inc. (www.sun.com) Netra servers running Solaris and supporting Real streams; Compaq Computer Corp. (www.compaq.com) photon servers running Windows NT and supporting Windows Media Player; and Inktomi Corp. (www.inktomi.com) Traffic Server caching software are in each of the markets served by Enron Broadband Service's distribution partners. They initially are configured to accommodate 2,000 or 10,000 simultaneous streams per PoP depending on the market size.
Akamai also offers a palette of streaming services. Its FreeFlow Streaming for interactive media accelerates the download of streaming. The service is based on SteadyStream, a technology that allows splitting and recombining streams without introducing jitter. In addition, Akamai offers FreeFlow to accelerate website performance. It also distributes applications at the edge of the network and can distribute profiles of users at the network edge to give the end user quicker access to content and to enable the content provider to know where the user is coming from, says George Kurian, vice president of product management at Akamai. This allows the content provider to target content to that user with a particular language or currency, for example.
Going forward, more companies are expected to move into the business of streaming infrastructure, says Tim Wilson, vice president of marketing at Digital Island. Under the Sun alliance it announced last December, Digital Island is putting up to 5,000 servers around the world, he says. The company also recently announced deals with Compaq, Intel Corp. (www.intel.com) and Microsoft Corp. (www.microsoft.com) to expand its streaming capabilities, he says.
The company now handles content (including streaming services, services that make websites go faster and various other hosting services) in 26 countries, and the company is expanding its scope through its membership in industry consortium Content Bridge (www.content-bridge.com). The group--which also includes Adero Inc. (www.adero.com), America Online Inc. (www.aol.com), Exodus Communications Inc. (www.exodus.net), Genuity Inc. (www.genuity.com), Inktomi and NetRail Inc. (www.netrail.net)--will enable Digital Island to reach countries where it doesn't already have an installed base--primarily smaller, less developed countries, says Wilson. In turn, membership in Content Bridge will enable Digital Island to make its capacity available to additional partners for an increased utilization rate.
Digital Island stands apart from competitor Enron Broadband Services not only by its footprint, because it is already doing hundreds (and anticipates soon thousands) of streaming events, says Wilson. Digital Island differs from Akamai--which Content Bridge reportedly was created to compete against--in that Digital Island has its own broadband network. "They have content storage and processors, but they do not have a network," he says. "That's a problem because when [the network] breaks is when it matters."
Meanwhile, he adds, Digital Island has hosting, network and devices integrated into a single system. However, unlike Enron, it doesn't own the fiber.
Partnerships
Although Enron Broadband Services and Digital Island boast of their respective partnerships with DSL providers and Content Bridge members, Akamai has the broadest set of partnerships with the top ISPs, says Kurian. Among those ISP partners are Digex Inc. (www.digex.com), Genuity, IBM Global Services (www.ibm.com), and other companies such as NaviSite Inc. (www.navisite.com), which is in the complex web hosting space.
Akamai also has an extensive set of partnerships with the caching and load-balancing vendors, he adds. For example, Alteon Networks Inc. (www.alteon.com), which is to be bought by Nortel Networks Corp. (www.nortelnetworks.com), and Cacheflow Inc. (www.cacheflow.com) link their equipment with Akamai's network to provide automated load balancing, says Kurian.
Akamai also partners with integrators such as Razorfish Inc. (www. razorfish.com) and website creators, and partners with last mile network operators through the Akamai Accelerated Network Program.
All told, Akamai is on 225 to 250 networks around the world today, says Kurian. The company puts its servers within other network operators' network and leases bandwidth from its partners. Although it doesn't own the network, Kurian says Akamai can know as soon as congestion occurs because it gathers its own network monitoring information, so it can route content optimally. "We're at our best when network performance is at its worst," says Kurian.
Akamai believes that to deliver superior content performance, you have to be as close to the local networks as possible. And it believes partnering is the best way to get that close. Companies like Digital Island that own their own networks, meanwhile, cannot get into hosting companies' networks as easily because the hosting companies consider Digital Island a potential competitor, he says.
Transport Commerce Briefs
DSLnetworks (www.dslnetworks.com) and Level 3 Communications Inc. (www.level3.com) formed an alliance that will combine DSL-based last mile connections and Internet backbone services for ISPs, ASPs and other service providers. DSLnetworks will provide high-speed Internet access via DSL to end users, while Level 3 will provide its recently launched (3)CrossRoads transport service, which offers destination sensitive billing.
CapRock Communications Corp. (www.caprock.com) plans to offer its customers worldwide data connectivity, thanks to an agreement made with WorldCom Inc. (www.wcom.com). The Dallas-based integrated communications provider has established network-to-network interfaces (NNIs) with WorldCom to extend its footprint beyond the southwestern U.S. states that it currently serves.
SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com) launched its Enterprise Network Management Wide Area Network service, which provides enterprise customers with a fully integrated, nationwide solution for wide-area network monitoring and performance management.
Belgacom S.A. (www.belgacom.be), Belgium's leading telecom operator, in cooperation with EUTELSAT (www.eutelsat.com), is launching its new service, Internet Over Satellite, which is aimed at ISPs and corporate users located in areas with poor terrestrial infrastructure. The new service will offer high-speed Internet connectivity via EUTELSAT satellites.
Grande Communications Inc. (www.grandecom.com) and Qwest Communications International Inc. (www.qwest.com) will swap dark fiber in the Austin-San Antonio corridor in Texas. Under the 25-year agreement, Grande will provide Qwest with fiber along its intracity networks, while Qwest will provide Grande with fiber along its long-haul link between the two cities.
Wholesale telecom broker Chapel Hill Broadband (www.chbroadband.com) opened a European division based in London to meet the demand of its American carriers looking to build out European networks.
360networks inc. (www.360.net) plans a $60 million expansion into major metropolitan areas in Europe with the acquisition of network rings in seven cities, including Geneva, London and Paris.
Madison River Communications Inc. (www.madisonriver.net) has struck an agreement with WorldCom Inc. (www.wcom.com) to interconnect with other Tier 1 Internet carriers in Atlanta and Dallas. As a result, Madison River will be able to offer its Internet customers a fully meshed OC-48 ATM network architecture.
U.K.-based Fibernet Group plc (www.fibernet.co.uk) selected KPNQwest (www.kpnqwest.com) to provide up to 6,800 km of fiber along with collocation facilities. The agreement will enable Fibernet to reach 30 cities in France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
Metromedia Fiber Network Inc. (www.mmfn.com) will lease dark fiber to Telseon (www.telseon.com). The $32 million agreement will enable Telseon to provide IP-based services in Chicago; New Jersey; New York; San Francisco and San Jose, Calif.; Seattle; and Washington, D.C.
Fiber Optek Interconnect Corp. (www.fiberoptek.com) will design, engineer and acquire rights of way for a network stretching from Boston to Washington, D.C., for Global Lightwave Holdings Inc. Global Lightwave plans to offer carrier's carrier services to CLECs, IXCs, ISPs and other service providers.
