Akamai and AT&T join forces to provide CDN services

Akamai Technologies, Inc. and AT&T have announced a strategic alliance to deliver a global suite of content delivery network (CDN) solutions to companies.

AT&T is combining Akamai’s content delivery platform with its IP network to deliver to companies an exclusive suite of global CDN and telecom solutions that will be jointly marketed, managed and supported by the two companies. The companies will initially focus their efforts in North America, with plans to expand globally within 12 months.

The alliance with Akamai represents the latest milestone in AT&T’s strategy to deliver solutions needed by companies that have seen explosive growth in the use of video and other content, both within their operations and by the end users they serve.

Driven by explosive growth in digital media, organizations are designing high-performing networking solutions that produce quality, on-demand results. CDN solutions from AT&T and Akamai will help enterprises simplify content distribution management and drive higher-performing end user experiences for consumers accessing content on the Internet.

Under the terms of the agreement, Akamai will deploy CDN servers at the edge of AT&T’s IP network and in AT&T facilities throughout the United States. With the deployment of Akamai’s CDN infrastructure within AT&T’s network infrastructure, end customers are expected to benefit from more efficient content routing and better delivery of digital content, video and Web applications, resulting in a better end-user experience. AT&T will transfer its existing CDN operations, customers and service to the Akamai platform in 2013.

The companies have also agreed to dedicate shared resources including technical support, customer care, marketing and professional services support.

“The alliance with Akamai positions us perfectly to deliver premier content delivery solutions to our business customers,” said Andy Geisse, Chief Executive Officer, AT&T Business Solutions. “By embedding Akamai's technology within AT&T’s IP network, our customers now have access to a suite of solutions that more than meet their need for content delivery and support. In an environment where companies and consumers alike are accessing video content and other applications online and from a multitude of devices, I can’t think of a better way to address the explosive growth in content that is sweeping across industries like media and retail.”