What is CDN? Learn All About Content Delivery Network

Akamai CDN services and technologies are amongst the most respected CDN providers in the content delivery network industry. The CDN provider is renowned for their high performance global network and their comprehensive customer service, making the Akamai CDN the go to network for large, multinational companies looking to improve their global reach.

Now, Comcast, the biggest cable TV firm in the US, is expanding aggressively into the broadband and content delivery market, with rumours afoot that they are looking to acquire Level 3, one of the Akamai CDN’s biggest rivals.

Akamai CDN vs Comcast

Tim Horan, an analyst at Oppenheimer, says Comcast also has been building up a CDN business focused on video delivery.

“Comcast launched its commercial CDN offering last May and has seen moderate success to this point. It has now added a new live linear streaming service, which will support subscription or ad-supported OTT (over-the-top) video,” said in a research report Friday. “We believe Comcast has an advantage over other CDN providers, in that it not only owns the last mile to 24 million homes, but will also be able to ‘ingest’ some content at origination.”

“Comcast’s ability to deliver end-to-end solutions means that it does not need to coordinate with other vendors to distribute content, which provides clients with greater reliability and performance,” added Horan. “Comcast now has over 100 PoPs (points of presence) in the U.S. for CDN delivery. We view this development as negative for Akamai, as it adds to the increasingly competitive environment and investment in CDNs to capture expected OTT video traffic.”