Velocix Ready to 'Cache In' With ISP Deals

Written by Ryan Lawler

Tuesday, October 7. 2008 at 08:50 AM EDT Post a comment

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LOS ANGELES -- Contentonomics -- Velocix is in the process of installing caching infrastructure in U.S. and U.K. Internet service providers, but CMO John Dillon says Net neutrality concerns are keeping his company from being able to publicly announce the deals.

In a panel discussion at Contentonomics yesterday, Dillon said that Velocix had three pilot programs underway to proactively deal with the issue of network congestion due to the rapid proliferation of streaming video. While Dillon did not name the partners in question, he said the projects included one with a U.S. ISP and another with a broadcaster and three ISPs in the U.K.

By installing caching devices in ISP networks, Velocix could accelerate the delivery of video content to the end user, while reducing network congestion and allowing ISPs to cash in on the delivery of that content. By providing guaranteed quality-of-service for video content, ISPs could potentially enable new services and gain additional revenues by claiming a spot in the broadband video value chain.

So what's the holdup?

Apparently there are Net neutrality concerns about ISPs enabling these new services, even if these deals provide a win-win for all parties involved. As a result, ISPs are cagey about announcing the initiatives.

"Net neutrality is making everybody incredibly nervous," Dillon says.

While Net neutrality is nothing new, Dillon notes that the subject of the debate has shifted as data traffic is increasingly driven by premium streaming video services, as opposed to illegitimate peer-to-peer traffic.

"The interesting thing is that all the conversations about Net neutrality a year or two ago were about peer-to-peer," Dillon says. But, he notes, "today it's about legitimate services."