Wednesday Bytes: Level 3, Akamai, Verizon, Teliasonera

Here’s a quick roundup of network and CDN news from around the world this week:

Level 3 revealed an expansion of its relationship with Intelsat. The satellite services provider will be using Level 3’s connectivity to bring its new headquarters in Tysons Corner, VA on-net. The two have a long relationship already of course, with Level 3 providing network infrastructure to locations around the country powering Intelsat’s terrestrial network.

Akamai picked up another network operator partner in southeast Asia. Indonesia’s Telin has signed on in a strategic partnership that will pair the state-owned company’s network infrastructure with Akamai’s global CDN reach. I’d have thought by now that the boundary line between CDN and network would be more blurry, but it has remained pretty robust over the past few years.

Also in the CDN world, Verizon Digital Media Services (or as we used to know it, EdgeCast) has a new partner of its own. They’ve signed a multi-year strategic agreement with South Korea’s KT Corporation. KT will be using EdgeCast’s technology to deliver content in Korea, with Verizon DMS gaining a much deeper reach into the country’s infrastructure. It’s interesting to see EdgeCast picking up a carrier partner like this again while under Verizon’s brand, I wonder if we’ll be seeing more items like it.

And there was yet more consolidation in European telecom this morning, as Teliasonera and Telenor have decided to combine forces in Denmark. The Swedish giant and its Norwegian neighbor will each own 50% of the new joint venture, which will serve some 3.5Mm mobile subscribers and hold 40% of the market. That will still be the 2nd largest operator, with TDC still holding down the top spot and Hutchison’s 3 a distant third. Whether regulators will be as excited about a near duopoly is another question.

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Categories: Content Distribution · Internet Backbones · Mergers and Acquisitions · Wireless