Akamai Announces Aura Network Solutions for Operator Content Delivery Networks

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leading cloud platform for helping enterprises provide secure, high-performing user experiences on any device, anywhere, announced today the launch of its Aura Network Solutions, a line of managed and licensed content delivery network (CDN) offerings designed for operators seeking to monetize their traffic and reduce network costs.  The solutions are planned for both fixed line and mobile network operators.  

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Operators are increasingly turning to CDN technology to offer new and compelling content services, provide a superior Quality of Experience (QoE) for subscribers, and reduce network infrastructure costs.  Paramount for operators in providing a differentiated service is the development of a strategy for the delivery of their own licensed content to subscribers using a variety of IP-connected devices including PCs, tablets, smart phones, gaming consoles, and Internet TV appliances.  Operators are also looking to provide federated CDN services directly to third party content owners on both fixed and mobile networks. 

Since its founding, Akamai has maintained strategic relationships with network operators, having deployed over 100,000 servers in more than 1,000 networks worldwide.  With today's news, the Company is offering a new phase in those relationships and bringing its value proposition to network operators.  Akamai's comprehensive set of services includes solutions for media delivery, web site performance, application and cloud optimization, and security.  With the introduction of Aura Network Solutions, Akamai is enabling operators to deploy CDN capacity within their own networks to not only deliver services to third party content owners, but also apply them to benefit their own applications such as managed video.  Akamai is unique in providing operators with a comprehensive set of features along with the flexibility to own, lease, or resell industry-leading CDN services.

"Network operators view content delivery technologies as strategic and highly complementary to their high speed data businesses," said Robert Blumofe, Senior Vice President of the Akamai Platform Division.  "CDNs provide operators a way to manage network costs and offer new services to enhance revenues and support the subscriber adoption of video and other content on a multitude of IP-connected devices.  With this announcement, Akamai is entering the business of creating CDN solutions specifically for network operators, and helping them federate those CDNs by connecting to our global Intelligent Platform."

Common Operator CDN Platform with Akamai's Instant Federation

Akamai's Aura Network Solutions provide network operators with a common infrastructure to deliver their "owned" content as well as sell CDN services to third-party content owners.  Akamai's offerings currently include Managed CDN with a Licensed CDN (LCDN) model in development.  The former is a turnkey CDN with dedicated capacity to an operator's business that is managed by Akamai on behalf of the operator.  Akamai's Managed CDN offering provides operators with time-to-market advantages – building a full-scale, fully-featured CDN typically within a few months.  The LCDN offering will include edge-server software licensed to the operator, allowing it to build and manage its own CDN capacity inside its network.  The software will be designed to be deployed on standalone servers or be integrated with third-party network elements.  

In both cases, Operator CDNs will be architected to federate instantly with the Akamai Intelligent Platform to provide the operator with global reach for its content delivery business.  Operators can also utilize Aura Network Solutions to deliver advanced services to their subscribers and enterprises, providing a robust set of features delivered upon proven Akamai technology.

"As consumers continue to adopt a wide array of IP-connected devices, both fixed and mobile network operators need solutions to cope with the traffic growth," said Melanie Posey, Research Vice President, IDC.  "Leading network operators are actively pursuing solutions that allow them to manage their networks more efficiently, while also responding with new services that can drive consumer loyalty and revenue growth.  Operator CDNs are emerging as a high priority element of network operators' strategies to support the delivery of all content and applications – their own services as well as those from over-the-top providers.  Enablement of on-net/off-net delivery – a key concern of network operators with their own content businesses – requires federation, a key part of the operator CDN value proposition."

About Akamai

Akamai^® is the leading cloud platform for helping enterprises provide secure, high-performing user experiences on any device, anywhere.  At the core of the Company's solutions is the Akamai Intelligent Platform™ providing extensive reach, coupled with unmatched reliability, security, visibility and expertise.  Akamai removes the complexities of connecting the increasingly mobile world, supporting 24/7 consumer demand, and enabling enterprises to securely leverage the cloud.  To learn more about how Akamai is accelerating the pace of innovation in a hyperconnected world, please visit www.akamai.com or blogs.akamai.com, and follow @Akamai on Twitter.

Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
This release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, failure of Akamai to complete development of the licensed CDN product, failure of such product, if developed, to operate as expected, failure of the LCDN product to have all features described above, incompatibility of Akamai solutions with operator networks, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure and other factors that are discussed in Akamai's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.

SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.