VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On the heels of its recent $13.5M Series A funding, Netskrt Systems, the leading provider of last-mile Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) for live streaming video–especially tier-one sports such as NFL, NBA and NHL games–today announced the rapid acceleration in the growth of its North American footprint. Since year-end 2023, Netskrt has tripled the size of its US last-mile CDN infrastructure both in terms of ISPs served and Tb/s of capacity.
While streaming VOD continues to be a major contributor to overall traffic growth for ISPs, over-the-top (OTT) streaming of live sports content represents a tectonic shift in traffic patterns. Content providers and ISPs unprepared for the traffic spikes produced by live sports streaming are finding themselves at a severe competitive disadvantage.
“Demand for high-quality streaming video is growing, driven in particular by live sports, and ISPs everywhere have been challenged from a traffic engineering perspective, especially given that congestion is typically occurring upstream from their networks,” said Siegfried Luft, Netskrt CEO and co-founder. “Our last-mile CDN has quickly been recognized as vital to helping content providers and ISPs conquer these issues and is reflected in our company growth and overall momentum.”
“Live sporting events have become the most-streamed content across digital platforms by a wide margin, with the NFL dominating TV viewership in the US,” said Dan Rayburn, Streaming Media Expert and Industry Analyst. “ISPs and Content Providers are always looking for innovative ways to address capacity challenges and QoE issues that come with increased streaming demand, especially in rural areas.”
Growth beyond the US
In order to capitalize on insatiable demand for sports streaming, Netskrt has built out significant capacity in Canada and Europe and sees growth accelerating in those markets as well.
Expansion in the UK
Netskrt has joined forces with the Internet Service Providers Association UK (ISPA UK). Members include large consumer-facing ISPs, niche services, hosting companies and fixed and wireless ISPs, among others. The partnership provides opportunities to help ISPs across the UK address streaming challenges and develop strategies to best achieve greater network efficiency in the ever-demanding live-streaming world.
"ISPA is pleased to welcome Netskrt to its growing list of partners. ISPA is dedicated to fostering innovation and providing critical support to the UK internet industry. Netskrt's last-mile CDN and locally-embedded cache solutions align seamlessly with our mission to enhance connectivity across the UK. As the demand for content and bandwidth only increases, Netskrt is helping our members and the sector deliver high-quality connectivity to consumers and businesses," said Krystian Heald, Head of Partnerships at ISPA.
Expansion in Italy
Netskrt has begun building last-mile CDN infrastructure in Italy to better handle live sports streaming. Over a fifth of Italians live outside major metro areas yet are every bit as sports hungry as their urban counterparts.
Netskrt is also deploying in IX locations across Italy to ensure high quality of experience (QoE) for consumers served by even the smallest ISPs.
New Headquarters and Leadership Hire
In addition to a new headquarters in Vancouver Canada, Netskrt has recently hired Dave Prail, Vice President of Content to the Netskrt team to strengthen strategic growth initiatives and enhance technical service offerings. Prail brings 20 years of industry knowledge and expertise in the CDN and OTT, video streaming and cloud computing arenas.
Netskrt Systems will be demonstrating its last-mile CDN solution in Booth 5C at Connected Britain, taking place in ExCel London (Hall 9), September 11-12, 2024.
About Netskrt
Netskrt Systems radically improves the ability for OTT providers to deliver a higher quality viewing experience to all their subscribers, wherever they are, while improving efficiency for the networks delivering the content. Netskrt’s last-mile CDN solution is particularly well suited to live streaming of major sporting events and popular VOD content. Click here to learn more.
