Not willing to be forgotten the Netflix/Level 3/Akamai story, Limelight Networks (NASDAQ:LLNW, news, filings) has also spoken up today. In a post on their corporate blog, the company noted that there also “a primary CDN provider” for Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX, news, filings), the deal is also a multi-year one that expands in 2011, and they are already storing all 20,000 titles. Thus, while the information we have is surely incomplete, it does seem to suggest parity between the Level 3 and Limelight contributions toward Netflix’s streaming services in 2011. Of course, Limelight and Level 3 are very different companies with different strengths and weaknesses, and hence probably will be utilized in complementary ways rather than dividing things straight down the middle.
What’s been interesting has been the fiery opinions burning beneath Netflix’s streaming choices. CDN traffic shifts around a lot, but this particular dust-up has provoked a rather fiery response. I suppose it is because Netflix is the darling of the street and the media right now, and that Akamai may have gotten a very rare short end of the stick as well. But then, with as big a marketshare as Akamai has, they can take it. It would be wrong to suggest that the CDN marketplace just got more competitive though, it’s always been a tough neighborhood – it’s just this time the cameras happened to be in the neighborhood.
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If both companies are doing the same thing, why is L3’s capital investmnet to provide service for Netflix appear to be so much greater than what LLNW has spent. LLWN does not even mention any specific capex to support Netflix in the Q3 call or subsequent comments?
I think the 14M capex and buildout by Jan 1 indicates that Level3 is truly the bigger winner here and will be acting as THE primary provider as opposed to A primary provider. Rob, what do you think?
It’s probably because Limelight already has a ton more capacity than Level 3. Even after all this Netflix buildout Level 3 does they will still have significantly less CDN capacity than Limelight already has.
Key CDN issues: (3) optimized largest IP network in the world for large file transfers, i.e., HD videos.
Regarding Wireless including backhaul and the host of variable products beyond backhaul; customers today are less concerned with price, while being more concerned with “search delivery intervals.”
As a result of these changing dynamics, the speed at which (3) usurps customer bases from incumbent CDN’s, those who are leasing the very facilities tied to their services from (3) directly, in many cases, is going to deliver Cramer’s-God, I hate quoting that criminal-“House of Pain” to those competitors.
Quite frankly, I don’t see what the hell is taking AMZN as well as APPL so long. They’re coming to a newswire near you soon, however. IMO
Message for DanRayburn because this can’t reach his board without registering or something else?
I must be confused because I had thought that Akamai priced at least part of their cdn product in the gutter to win business that LVLT was already handling back in March, 2010? I am also hearing presentations by (3) exec’s that quality of service is trumping “price” by customers in the marketplace today. How much facility space(co-lo) does AKAM and LLNW lease out of (3)’s national 2.1MM sq. feet today, and when might long term prior leases be expiring? How will the cost of bandwidth intense video deliveries weigh on these “cluster servers” at the edge now that large file transfers have become vogue? Marginal this, marginalize that, and before you know it, your margins stink! tia