Spotlight: AT&T touts CDN capabilities

Dan O'Shea — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:53:08 -0400

Almost 30 companies have been stalking the content delivery network services market of late, with carriers such as Level 3 Communications, AT&T and Tata Communications lining up next to a stack of small start-ups. All of them are chasing industry stalwarts like Akamai Technologies and Limelight Networks. the latter half of 2008 could see the carriers in particular making some major moves as Level 3 recovers from an M&A integration hangover, AT&T increasingly promotes its CDN capabilities, and Tata cultivates the fruits of its partnership with BitGravity.

AT&T, for its part, was at the recent Streaming Media East conference in New York City touting its progress with CDN clients such as Forbes.com. Check out this story at Streamingmedia.com

Related article:
- check out our CDN news page

Limelight wins early patent battle

Tom Burton — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:59:50 -0500

Akamai's long-awaited patent case against Limelight Networks got underway yesterday in what could be a make or break litigation for Limelight. Limelight last week had a first-round win when the Massachusetts district court hearing the matter rejected two out of three of the patent claims. This saw Limelight's stock price jump, only to be buffeted by a downgrade from Jefferies analyst Katherine Egbert. Egbert noted the court agreed to hear submissions on a final patent--the same patent Akamai had successfully stopped Cable and Wireless from using. This is Akamai's first and most successful patent and was obtained from MIT under an exclusive license.

The battle between the CDN market leader Akamai and the aggressive new player on the block, Limelight, is being keenly watched by the online video industry with many wanting Limelight to succeed so as to ensure competitive pricing. The case finally began yesterday after nearly two years of legal preparations. Limelight is also facing a patent action from Level 3.

Predictions of a price war this year have not yet materialized as demand for video content delivery continues to surge. Much of this demand is coming from traditional media companies finally making content available online. Limelight over the weekend announced Doug Lindroth had joined the board. Lindroth is a former CFO of software company, BakBone Software.

In recent weeks, there have been market rumors of a Microsoft purchase of Limelight, but analysts believe a buyout is unlikely until the patent action is resolved. Limelight floated mid-last year and reached a high of $24.33 before collapsing to around $7.

For More:
- Limelight appoints Doug Lindroth to Board Release
- Limelight wins early patent skirmish Release

Related articles:
Limelight expects results to be at high end Report
Akamai reveals its P2P solution Report