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Broadband and telecoms giant BT Group has today announced a new partnership with edge video delivery network MainStreaming, which they hope will deliver a smoother and “more resilient streaming experience” for UK audiences by integrating it directly into their nationwide mobile and fixed networks.
According to the blurb, the new collaboration will: boost the quality of experience (QoE) and reliability for live streaming audiences; drive greater cost efficiency for network providers through caching at the edge (); and deliver efficiency for content providers through a unique capacity-based model to simplify costs.
On top of that, the roadmap also includes the UK’s “first trials” of MAUD (Multicast-Assisted Unicast Delivery) for live streaming, which is a type of Content Delivery Network (CDN) technology that we’ve written about a few times before (here). But we’re not sure why this is referenced as “first trials“, since EE has already conducted one (here).
The companies will also look at software-defined edge caching solutions designed to meet the evolving demands of content providers and consumers.
Chris Bramley, BT’s Chief Network Architect, said:
“We are continually enhancing our networks to ensure our customers enjoy the best possible streaming experience. Bringing a leading Content Delivery Network provider like MainStreaming into our network enables us to drive efficiency of video content delivery and provide outstanding viewing experiences to our shared customers.”
The improvements are being aimed at UK broadcasters and Over-The-Top (OTT) video platforms, which could include anything from the BBC’s iPlayer to Netflix or EE’s own pay TV services etc. But the announcement is somewhat vague on when everything promised by this partnership will be fully introduced or trialled.