Akamai Introduces Advanced Technology to Speed Downloads and Improve Online Video Quality Across Its Global Platform

AMSTERDAM, Sept. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- IBC2013 (Stand 6.A15) -- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leading cloud platform for helping enterprises provide secure, high-performing user experiences on any device, anywhere, today announced at IBC2013 that it has deployed FastTCP technology broadly across the Akamai Intelligent Platform™. Leveraged through Akamai's 2012 acquisition of FastSoft, FastTCP optimizes the throughput of video and other digital content across IP networks.

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Implemented this quarter, FastTCP technology is now an inherent freely available capability of the Akamai Intelligent Platform and has already provided performance improvements in Akamai's customer networks around the world. Actual average throughput measurements collected from sample regional networks more than a week before and after the FastTCP network upgrade indicated significant improvements in select customer and end user instances, ranging from 8% in Japan to 105% in China, with both North America and Europe enjoying 15% to 22% increases. These increases not only improved download speeds for music/MP3s, games and videos but also enhanced the quality of streaming video content, helping Akamai customers to enjoy higher end-user satisfaction and engagement times. In addition, rebuffering improvements in excess of 40% were observed in sampled networks in the U.S., India, and Europe. These improvements have dramatically reduced the number of times a video stream delivered by Akamai pauses or stalls, which has been shown to increase viewer retention rates.

"The efficiencies afforded by FastTCP, particularly for connections with higher latency and packet loss, are helping Akamai customers consistently deliver content at higher quality to larger, more globally distributed audiences, and is just one of the ways we continue to innovate on the platform everyday," said Bill Wheaton, senior vice president and general manager, Media Products Division, Akamai. "The improved results have been especially noticeable in regions where network connectivity are frequently less than ideal; suddenly, larger numbers of end users in those areas have begun enjoying a markedly improved quality of experience that required no intervention by the customer."

While the FastTCP technology deployment is designed to improve throughput for most of Akamai's delivery services, the Sola Sphere content delivery solution has enjoyed the most dramatic improvements. Part of Akamai's suite of Sola Media Solutions, Sola Sphere delivery solutions support HTTP-based on-demand and live streaming as well as large file downloads of software objects such as multi-Megabyte music files and apps, and multi-Gigabyte Ultra-HD/4K video content.

FastTCP algorithms are deployed within Akamai edge servers and do not require any software installation on user devices or any action on the part of Akamai's customers or their site visitors. The algorithms are designed to improve the Internet's standard Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) performance for high packet loss or high latency network connections. The resulting improvements in streaming media bitrates and reduced file download time help provide an enhanced, higher-quality user experience to Akamai's worldwide base of Sola Media customers.

Akamai demonstrations during IBC2013 on stand 6.A15, Sept. 13-17 in Amsterdam, will include cloud-based online content workflows designed to simplify preparation, monetization, and measurement of audience engagement; synchronized delivery of complementary second-screen content; and immersive, glasses-free 3D video delivery.

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 TCP technology to operate as expected or provide expected benefit, 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.