Optus signs CDN agreement with Level 3

Optus Wholesale and Satellite is working with international telecom operator Level 3 Communications to allow Optus to locally cache popular video and other internet content.

The companies will work to boost Level 3’s content delivery network (CDN) capacity in Australia by 300%, while allowing Optus to facilitate faster delivery of online video content to customers.

Under the agreement, Level 3 will put its CDN servers in Australia on Optus’s network. Optus will also be entitled to resell Level 3 CDN services in Australia to customers including broadcasters and website owners.

CDNs are designed to locally host popular video and other content, eliminating the need to route the traffic through international cables.

Optus Wholesale and Satellite Managing Director Rob Parcell said the company’s collaboration with Level 3 will allow Optus to dynamically scale up CDN caching to handle traffic spikes.

“It’s critical for Optus Wholesale and Satellite to be able to facilitate content delivery from customers to end users efficiently and in a way that elevates the end-user experience,” he said.

“Through Level 3’s CDN, we are able to improve the consumption of video, music, photo and data content over the internet, not just locally within Australia, but also across the globe.”

According to the latest statistics from Adobe, online TV video consumption surged 388% between 2013 and 2014, placing a large strain on telecom networks worldwide and creating a greater need for high-quality video streaming capabilities.

Image courtesy of Tyler Tate under CC