The move from legacy distribution methods towards an all-IP streaming business model is top of mind for broadcasters, telcos and service providers. Across the industry, plans are afoot to phase out linear technologies and build infrastructure and platforms around future-proof IP-based technologies. Broadcasters are looking to move from cable and satellite to internet-based delivery. Telcos see an opportunity to bring content delivery in-house on their own network, for an expanded service offering and reduced reliance on using external CDNs for streaming.

Streaming consumption will undoubtedly increase as both digital-only homes and broadband penetration continue to rise. Combine this with a need to handle higher bitrates and more streaming use cases and you have a technical challenge on your hands: 

“From an infrastructure provisioning point of view, if you can deliver the same or better demand with less infrastructure or investment, from fewer boxes on live streams, why wouldn’t you?” - RTÉ on Varnish

In our recent webinar with STL, From CDN to Edge Content Delivery: Quantifying the Big Opportunity, we received a lot of great questions from our audience about the nature of the telco edge, and what edge computing actually means. The edge is still a frontier space for many companies and raises a lot of question marks. Here we’ll try to dispel some of that mystery by answering some of the most common questions we get about edge computing and Varnish’s role as Edge Content Delivery Software.

For e-commerce and online retail, revenue and web performance are inextricably linked. Delays, latency and downtime reduce conversions: Google estimates that every second of extra page load time over two seconds reduces conversions by 7%. It’s why many major brands rely on Varnish software to power their online grocery, clothing and cosmetics stores.