Akamai adds new video features to CDN infrastructure

Content delivery network provider Akamai has added a number of new features to its platform, designed to meet the needs of over-the-top video service providers targeting connected devices.

Akamai’s TV Everywhere solution is comprised of delivery, content security, analytics and identity services.

“We have seen over the last 18 months to two years that over-the-top services providers have started to encounter specific challenges,” Stuart Cleary, director of product marketing, media and CDN at Akamai, told DTVE Daily. He said that Akamai had adopted a modular approach to its platform to address four areas: workflow, security, analytics and scalability.

“We are simplifying workflow to make it easier for OTT service providers to get live and on-demand streaming content to as many devices as possible,” said Cleary. Content preparation – encoding and formatting – will be offered at no extra charge to media customers.

The second element is security, including per-session encryption and verification of players, a token exchange mechanism to ensure that users have the required rights, and geo-fencing of content. This, together with the third element – the provision of audience intelligence and service metrics – will be sold as an added value feature. The analytics element also includes Quality of Services metrics.

The fourth element of TV Everywhere is scaling, including the deployment of Akamai servers in mobile networks to enable content to be targeted to mobile devices.