Akamai Broadens Reach, Sweetens Pot for ISP Partners - continued

Expanding Network Reach with C&W, Cidera
Akamai also expanded its network reach through new service provider partnerships announced in May.

Akamai signed a three year agreement with Cable & Wireless to deploy its servers at strategic locations throughout C&Ws global IP network. Edge servers installed at U.S. and international POPs will leverage high-speed gigabit Ethernet access to C&W's backbone to deliver faster, broader service to FreeFlow customers.

Through newly announced partnerships with Loral CyberStar and Cidera, Akamai customers will soon take advantage of satellite content delivery. Akamai plans to use Cidera's Streaming Media Service to deliver dedicated streaming media and live event broadcasts. Cidera will, in turn, transport Akamai content to at least 1,500 ISP sites over Cidera's satellite broadcast network.

Loral CyberStar also agreed to transport Akamai content over its global satellite network to at least 5,000 ISPs and educational networks world-wide. But this agreement includes an interesting twist: free satellite-based Usenet feeds for Akamai's Accelerated Network Program (AANP) partners.

Luring ISPs with Free Usenet Feed, Monitoring Tools
In order to create a high-performance overlay network with a broad end-user reach, Akamai must partner with both backbone providers and a large, diverse set of Internet access providers. To draw the latter, Akamai created AANP. AANP members receive Akamai servers at no cost. Benefits include reduced bandwidth consumption and the ability to deliver improved service to customers. To see if you qualify, visit http://www.akamai.com/partners/accelerated_isp.html and contact Akamai.

Akamai's deal with Loral CyberStar makes the AANP package more attractive by adding satellite delivery of Usenet traffic at no extra cost. According to Akamai, Usenet traffic is doubling in size every year. Offloading 12 Mbps of Usenet traffic onto the CyberStar satellite network will allow participating ISPs in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia to free terrestrial bandwidth now consumed by Usenet traffic. Using a broadcast medium to deliver Usenet is a win-win proposition for everyone involved.

Also, to assist AANP members with traffic planning, Akamai plans to provide participating ISPs with tools that monitor inbound and outbound traffic, real-time and historical server performance, bandwidth utilization, and user-backbone connectivity. These tools can be used to quantify bandwidth savings realized through Akamaization, optimize parameters that influence ARL-based routing, and evaluate when and where bandwidth should be added.

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