New Netskrt eCDN managed service enables rural providers to overcome quality issues resulting from the explosion in streaming video
VANCOUVER, British Columbia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Netskrt Systems today introduced a radically new type of content delivery network (CDN) that ensures high-quality on-demand and live streaming video in rural and other underserved environments. The Netskrt Edge CDN (eCDN) managed service deploys video caches very deep into broadband ISP networks, allowing viewers to avoid the bottlenecks, rebuffering, and low bit rates that have become common for far too many consumers. This problem is especially acute as more and more streaming-only rights deals are consummated between large streamers and sports leagues. The volume of live streaming video traffic driven by live sports events is slamming broadband networks that were not engineered for this purpose.
“Streaming video should be an enjoyable subscriber experience but for far too many it just isn’t. Fundamental changes need to be undertaken at the very edge of the network, especially to handle large scale delivery of live streaming traffic”
ISP Bandwidth Consumption: The Netskrt eCDN managed service for ISPs combines cloud-based, title-aware machine learning for content ingestion and distribution, and edge components for local caching to reduce the network load and deliver high quality viewing experiences for ISP customers in rural and underserved locations. With the Netskrt eCDN, viewers avoid bottlenecks and rebuffering for their favorite on-demand and live-streamed events. This problem is especially acute as more and more streaming-only rights deals are consummated between large streamers and sports leagues.
“Streaming video should be an enjoyable subscriber experience but for far too many it just isn’t. Fundamental changes need to be undertaken at the very edge of the network, especially to handle large scale delivery of live streaming traffic,” noted Siegfried Luft, Netskrt CEO and co-founder. “Traditional CDN technology cannot scale down to this level and struggles with live streaming. The Netskrt eCDN is uniquely well positioned to benefit broadband providers of all types but especially those operating in rural and underserved regions.”
The challenge for ISPs, primarily but not exclusively those serving rural customers, is that traditional CDNs have largely ignored them, backhaul bandwidth is frequently constrained, and even where fiber to the home (FTTH) is available, upstream bottlenecks can ruin the performance of streaming video. And live streaming, involving very large, synchronized audiences, stresses ISP networks even further.
Matt Davis, founder and principal analyst at Independence Research, added, “In recent years we have seen tens of billions of dollars invested in broadband infrastructure, and with the government funded fiber blitz ramping up, we should see even more homes and businesses on the wrong side of the digital divide receive higher quality broadband. However, the access network or “last mile” is just part of the picture. Video streaming at home and increasingly in businesses is the key application that requires performance throughout the entire network. Companies like Netskrt can play an important role to ensure end users receive the service they expect.”
The emergence and growth of live streaming video severely complicates the challenges long faced by ISPs. Their access networks were built to support conventional web apps and a mix of video-on-demand (VOD) streaming. Because live streaming is often enjoyed by large viewing audiences at the same time, each delivered via a unique connection between the content source and the subscriber, broadband networks have been flooded with traffic. Using content replication, the Netskrt eCDN allows large populations of live streaming viewers to be supported through a single connection per content format, yielding enormous bandwidth savings and resulting in a far superior consumer experience.
Nikola Broadband is among the first ISPs to deploy the Netskrt eCDN. Nikola Broadband CEO Robert Zeff stated, “We’ve gone to great lengths to build a highly reliable and high-performance broadband network that our customers love. But, unfortunately, the introduction of live streaming traffic on our network has imposed quality problems our network is not causing. We think adding Netskrt to our network will help overcome those issues.”
The Netskrt eCDN is a managed service combining cloud-based, title-aware machine learning for content ingestion and distribution, and edge components for local caching to reduce the network load and deliver high quality viewing experiences. The Netskrt eCDN technology has been successfully deployed in use cases characterized by limited or intermittent connectivity, including not only rural ISPs, but rail and air environments as well.
Attendees of WISPAMERICA 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky, March 6-9, 2023, can learn more by visiting Netskrt at booth #424.
