Qwilt, a provider of edge cloud and media delivery solutions, has announced its innovative new service, Qwilt Content Delivery Sharing (CDS), a unique approach to content delivery over the Internet. Qwilt’s new service uses the same sharing economy model made famous by Uber and others, in which local service providers are paid to use their own assets to deliver a service which is coordinated by a central entity. Users get the benefit of on-demand local service and the simplicity of a single coordinating entity. With Qwilt Content Delivery Sharing, the OTT content providers’ content is delivered by local ISP edge computing assets, instead of a more distant CDN. The outcome for the OTT content provider is more delivery capacity, higher quality and lower prices. In this new sharing model for content delivery, Qwilt, like Uber, serves as the overall coordinator, instantly matching consumer requests for OTT content with local ISPs who are ready to deliver. Content Delivery Sharing is unique because of the partnerships Qwilt has established with service providers who operate the edge delivery infrastructure, as well as the collaborative relationship with publishers who value the high performance and capacity available through in-ISP network delivery. 

The concern about a looming content delivery capacity gap around the world is being driven by many factors. First, the proliferation of streaming services and accompanying consumer demand. Second, the steady march of higher resolution content and devices, from SHD to 4K to 8K. And third, the increasing capacity of access networks, both mobile and fixed broadband, which prompt consumers to expect broadcast quality when streaming. As evidence of these factors, the expected growth of media consumption worldwide, especially due to the new network capabilities brought on by 5G, is staggering. According to a recent study by Ovum and Intel, average monthly data consumption per 5G subscriber will grow from 11.7GB in 2019 to 84.4GB in 2028, at which point video will account for 90% of all 5G traffic. According to Orbis Research, the content delivery network market was valued at USD 7.33 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach a value of USD 29.48 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 26.1%, over the forecast period (2018-2023).

Content Delivery Sharing’s innovative approach disrupts the 20-year-old CDN business model and, more importantly, solves the looming delivery capacity gap problem. As OTT video traffic continues to increase exponentially, CDNs will almost certainly be overloaded, becoming a bottleneck themselves.  Qwilt’s CDS allows ISPs to optimally place edge delivery nodes inside their own networks, far from CDN peering points, alleviating bottlenecks and moving content closer to end users. 

Qwilt’s Content Delivery Sharing – A Transformational Model for Content Delivery

Content Delivery Sharing, a solution which addresses the need to solve the capacity gap with a better content delivery model, is innovative in four important ways. Namely, Content Delivery Sharing is:

1.     A new streaming architecture based on edge computing where edge servers are deployed deep in ISP networks

2.     A new business model based on ISP partnerships where service providers procure, deploy and operate the edge computing delivery infrastructure in their respective networks

3.     A sharing model in which Qwilt’s edge software and cloud services act as the control plane, matching requests for content delivery with edge delivery nodes close to consumers

4.     A new value chain in which publishers work collaboratively and directly with ISPs

Why Content Delivery Sharing Works – Real Collaboration Between Publishers and Service Providers

Content Delivery Sharing means each service provider deploys and operates the edge cloud layer needed to support media delivery within their last mile network. They have the incentive to do so because of the infrastructure savings from using edge computing instead of network transport for content delivery. They also share in the monetization benefit. For content publishers, this new model for content delivery means three things – higher quality, more capacity and lower cost. Through a single cloud API, publishers can access Qwilt’s global footprint of service provider edge cloud deployments.

The business model for CDS is either based on volume of delivery (GBT) or based on total delivery capacity purchased by the content publisher.

How Publishers and Service Providers Benefit from Content Delivery Sharing

By collaborating directly with service providers, content publishers bypass peering bottlenecks (particularly beneficial in certain ISP networks and geographies), lower delivery cost, improve performance (especially valuable in certain troubled geographies), and ensure the delivery architecture will quickly scale as OTT usage grows exponentially. The service provider benefits from collaboration by offloading their network infrastructure (fewer switches, routers, ports and links inside their network), reducing their peering requirements at major interconnection points (especially relevant at locations outside of North American and Europe), controlling resources inside their networks, and receiving delivery fees that were previously going to CDNs.

Content Delivery Sharing – A Service Offering Based on Qwilt’s Open Edge Cloud

Content Delivery Sharing is a service offering based on Qwilt’s Open Edge Cloud solution for service providers. Both CDS and the Open Edge Cloud are compliant with the Streaming Video Alliance’s Open Caching specifications which define how publishers can use in-ISP network cache resources for content delivery. Specifications for Open Caching were developed and unanimously approved by the Alliance’s membership which includes content publishers, service providers, CDNs and technology companies representing the end to end streaming ecosystem. 

“Qwilt’s Content Delivery Sharing (CDS) leverages the Open Caching specifications developed in the Streaming Video Alliance over the last 5 years,” said Dan Rayburn, Principal Analyst at Frost and Sullivan. “There is an important dimension to Qwilt’s approach which can help create needed content delivery capacity as streaming demand grows. Qwilt’s CDS model means ISPs have a direct role in the content delivery value chain because they purchase, deploy and operate the CDS edge delivery infrastructure. Because this is based on Open Caching, ISPs can have confidence this architecture and operational model has industry support.”

“Content Delivery Sharing is the solution publishers need to scale their streaming services for coming demand,” said Alon Maor, CEO of Qwilt and Board Member of the Streaming Video Alliance. “Along with our service provider partners, we believe this new model for content delivery will establish the right trajectory for streaming capacity and scale that will benefit the entire ecosystem – publishers, services providers and consumers.”

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