Akamai Selected as Netflix Content Distribution Network Partner

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM), the leader in powering video, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, today announced it has been selected as the primary content delivery network for movies and TV episodes streamed instantly over the Internet by Netflix.  Akamai gives Netflix a strong foundation for the continued growth of its ability to stream instantly, including Netflix's planned expansion to stream to one country outside the U.S. later this year.

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By the end of 2009, almost half of the 12.3 million Netflix members had instantly watched a movie or TV episode on either a computer or TV via a Netflix ready device.  Netflix projects that number will grow dramatically this year and in the years to come.   Netflix chose Akamai's global distribution platform for its highly scalable performance and storage capacity to ensure uninterrupted streaming of hundreds of thousands of movies and TV episodes during peak times.

"Netflix changed the way Americans watch movies when we started sending DVDs in the mail to subscribers in 1999.  We're revolutionizing movie watching a second time by instantly streaming movies to Netflix members' TVs and computers via the Internet," said Andrew Rendich, head of Netflix operations.  "We chose Akamai as our primary content delivery network because we need a strong partner to deliver movies instantly and to be able to meet our ever-increasing demand."    

"Akamai's solutions are a perfect fit to support Netflix as it undergoes a strategic business model shift from traditional DVD shipment to streaming," said Robert Hughes, Executive Vice President of Global Sales, Services and Marketing at Akamai. "Netflix is well-positioned to profit from the video streaming wave, especially as more Internet-connected televisions, devices and video game consoles enter the market.  The growth of online movie services, long-form video and higher quality content puts the Internet to the test, and Akamai has the architecture and scalability to succeed."

Akamai offers a service layer to bring content in HD-quality to the edge of the Internet, closest to end users.  By distributing content closer to the edge, with servers less than 100 miles from all end users, Akamai's service allows for the fastest, most reliable delivery path from the server to the user.  This delivery approach improves the performance and reliability of HD files, one of the essential requirements for instant download and delivery of movies, which results in an uninterrupted, smooth playback viewing experience.  

The Akamai Difference

Akamai® provides market-leading managed services for powering video, dynamic transactions, and enterprise applications online.  Having pioneered the content delivery market one decade ago, Akamai's services have been adopted by the world's most recognized brands across diverse industries.  The alternative to centralized Web infrastructure, Akamai's global network of tens of thousands of distributed servers provides the scale, reliability, insight and performance for businesses to succeed online.  Akamai has transformed the Internet into a more viable place to inform, entertain, interact, and collaborate.  To experience The Akamai Difference, visit www.akamai.com.

Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

The 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, the effects of any attempts to intentionally disrupt our services or network by hackers or others, changes in Netflix's technologies or to Akamai's streaming technologies such that they are no longer inter-operable, failure of our services to operate as expected, 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.