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Enron Mail |
BY MAX SMETANNIKOV InterActive Week 11.1.99
Idea is to build on streaming content delivery While Akamai Technologies and recently acquired Sandpiper Net-works have captured the majority of mind share as leaders in the emerging content distribution market, Enron Communications is making a bid to blend together its assets as a national carrier to beat back the start-ups and make some major waves in the content delivery business. Last week, Portland, Ore.-based carrier Enron (www.enron.net) announced it has broadened its content distribution network to focus on streaming media. The intensified pursuit of the content distri-bution space is likely to come as a surprise to com-petitors that perceive the carrier as more of a band-width wholesaler. However, company executives say content distri-bution ofvarious kinds is what Enron is all about. "What we do is exactly what they [Aka-mai] do," says Joe Hirko, Enron president and chief executive. "The difference is that their services are acceptable for some content, that isn't mis-sion-cntical, and we have that same model and we do that for mis-sion-crincal content." Just like Akamai and Sandpiper, Enron is colocating its media dis-tribution servers with other Internet service providers (ISPs), mem-bers of the so-called e-Powered Distribution Program, making it possible for Enron to reserve bandwidth on partners' networks. The differentiator that Enron brings to the table is its quality-of-service guarantee, backed by an elaborate network architecture and business model that Enron is building, which relies on a combination of alliances and a bandwidth broker exchange. First, Enron has built its own content distribution network with servers colocated with other ISPs. These carriers include Epoch Internet, Electric Lightwave, FlashNet Communications, GTE Inte-networking, InterNap, NetRail, NorthPoint Communications, RCN and Veno. Enron is also pursuing satellite providers as another group of carriers capa-ble of distributing content in geographically remote places where fiber networks are not present yet. While traditional content distributors measure their footprint in servers distributed with other hackhones, Enron uses its points of presence and the number ofdesktops reached as its basic metrics. Enron says it can shoot audio and video streams to 25 million desktops via 500 POPs. Second, Enron is in the final stages of establishing its own bandwidth exchange, a division that would trade space on other carriers networks as a way to provision bandwidth on demand. Hirko says six interconnection points for carriers that want to trade on this exchange have been built, and the first trades will start before the end of the year. This would be the first time a bandwidth exchange business model, in itself a nascent idea, would be married to content distribution as the means to bring down the cost of streaming media distribution. "This is something completely new. I have not seen anything like this," says Tim Strong, an analyst at consultancy TeleGeography in Washington, D.C. The result is essentially complete control over the pipe delivering voice and video, a position of power that Hirko says will lead to unmatched performance. "We are talking 27 frames a second," Hirko says, adding that it is not uncommon to tap into streaming video feeds as low as two or three frames per second. Enron plans to charge its users less than 5 cents per megabyte delivered. Akamai (www.akamai.com), which doesn't own its own network and uses the Internet as the means of streaming media delivery, also plans to guarantee near-zero packet loss with its patent-pending, yet-to-be-launched service called Steady Stream. The biggest challenge for Enron is to convince potential customers that the carrier is more than simply a bandwidth provider. To date, Enron's only public streaming media client is CountryCool.com. Enron officials see an opportunity to barge into the industry by commandeering the unconquered segment of the content distribution market streaming media where Akamai and Sandpiper have yet to make a name. "We are using Akamai for distribution of objects and static images," says Monty Mullig, vice president of CNN Internet Technologies. "It's possible Akamai might work for streaming media, but I have not seen that product from them yet." CNN Interactive is distributing most of its video through Intervu, one of the first providers of streaming media services. While Mullig is intrigued by the prospects of Enron's bandwidth exchange services, he has yet to be convinced the company offers a compeffing service. "They haven't put a product in front of us that we would be interested in," Mullig says. "We want a big audience behind the service that we buy like Akamai's. On its face value, Enron's network is not any more interesting than networks of other players their size. The master plan National carrier Enron cites four building blocks as the foundation for its content distribution service: NETWORK COVERAGE: 12-POP-strong national network and partner agreements with 10 ISPs worldwide - a content distribu-tion network reaching 25 million end users INTELLIGENCE SOFTWARE: Enron Intelligent Network, which ties together various network properties for a quality-of-service-enabled offering BANDWIDTH EXCHANGE SERVICE: Soon to be launched, will provide spot capacity on other carriers' networks on an on-demand basis APPLICATION PARTNERS: Vendors and service providers enabling applications delivered through Enron's network ______________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ 11/10/1999 PR Newswire (Copyright © 1999, PR Newswire) HOUSTON, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Enron Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Enron (NYSE: ENE), and Inktomi Corporation (Nasdaq: INKT) announced today a strategic alliance in which the Inktomi Traffic Server cache platform will be integrated into the Enron Intelligent Network to offer high quality network performance and bandwidth capacity to support broadband content distribution and e-business services. The integration of Inktomi's caching software into the Enron Intelligent Network enhances Enron Communications' ability to seamlessly and selectively push content to the desktop while handling massive volumes of high bit rate network traffic in a scalable manner. "With the acceleration of global e-business demands, there is an increased need for an Internet infrastructure that is scalable, reliable and fast," said David Peterschmidt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Inktomi Corp." The integration of our Traffic Server technology into the Enron Intelligent Network will enable a rich suite of broadband applications and services targeted at the next generation of content delivery." The enhanced performance of the Enron Intelligent Network, in combination with the Inktomi Traffic Server cache platform, lies in its ability to store content "one-hop" away from the user at the closest ISP server. Enron's network also provides greater scaling capability to handle peaks in demand without system failures. In contrast, the public Internet has a limited capability to deliver broadband services like streaming media, which is often hampered by packet loss, interference, and other disruptions that slow down transmission speed and compromise the end user viewing experience. "Enron Communications' unique e-business platform includes industrial strength routers and servers, combined with fiber and satellite distribution, to deliver more simultaneous streams which overcomes the challenges of the current Internet," said Mike Ortega, vice president of sales at InterNAP. "Integrating Inktomi's technology with the Enron Intelligent Network really takes our services to a new level and provides a huge competitive advantage in the delivery of broadband content to our customers." The integration of Inktomi technology with the Enron Intelligent Network will represent an industry-best end-to-end solution to deliver mission critical applications to vertical industries like financial services and media and entertainment. For example, the Enron Intelligent Network can host high- quality streaming video road shows for the financial services industry -- distributed live, interactive and on-demand. The Enron Intelligent Network offers investment banks, content aggregators and other financial entities a richer, faster and more reliable audio/video experience for their audiences than today's popular solutions, which are mostly public Internet based. "Enterprise businesses are looking for the right combination of technology that will enable their swift transformation to e-businesses, which is what the Enron Intelligent Network offers. We offer the end-to-end Internet solution for content distribution, not just a small enhancement to the public Internet," said Joe Hirko, president and CEO of Enron Communications. "The enterprise seeks online services like TV-quality streaming rich media, video conferencing over the Internet, and large video file transfers over IP, which are transmitted with even higher quality and reliability over the Enron Intelligent Network with the support of Inktomi caching." One of Enron Communications' streaming customers -- Countrycool.com, the official web cast site of the 1999 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards -- transmitted a live stream of the 33rd Annual CMA Awards over the Enron Intelligent Network. The viewing audience connected to the stream at broadband speeds of 150 Kbps and 300 Kbps. High-bit rate, data-intensive streaming media events, like the CMA Awards web cast, highlight the efficient delivery and robust performance of the Enron Intelligent Network. "We realized that Enron Intelligent Network was the perfect platform for the most efficient and reliable delivery of our premier streaming event, and in fact, they exceeded our expectations. The quality of this stream got such excellent reviews that our web site audience has increased by nearly 900 percent over last year's numbers," said Carol Walcoff, Countrycool.com President and CEO. "Now add Inktomi's caching technology to Enron Communications' platform and we truly are able to scale our services and meet our increased user requests for on-demand content." About Inktomi Inktomi (pronounced INK-tuh-me), develops and markets scalable software designed for the world's largest Internet infrastructure and media companies. Inktomi's two areas of business are portal services, comprised of the search, directory and shopping engines; and network products comprised of the Traffic Server network cache and associated value-added services. Inktomi works with leading companies including America Online, British Telecommunications, CNN, Excite@Home, GoTo.com, Intel, NBC's Snap!, RealNetworks, Sun Microsystems, and Yahoo!. The company has offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information visit www.inktomi.com. About Enron Communications Enron Communications delivers the Enron Intelligent Network(TM), a Pure IP(TM) broadband overlay to the Internet. Enron Communications also provides rich, multimedia ePowered(TM) application services that enhance online commerce and communications. In early 2000, the Enron Intelligent Network will extend its reach to Europe, Japan, Asia and South America with metropolitan POPs and local ePowered distribution partners. Enron Communications offers ISPs and networks providers a range of bandwidth transport solutions that enable businesses to handle high traffic and high bit rate needs. A wholly owned subsidiary of Enron, Enron Communications can be found on the web at www.enron.net. Enron is one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas and communications companies. The company, which owns approximately $34 billion in energy and communications assets, produces electricity and natural gas, develops, constructs and operates energy facilities worldwide, delivers physical commodities and financial and risk management services to customers around the world, and is developing an intelligent network platform to facilitate online business. The stock is traded under the ticker symbol, "ENE." Contact: Claudia Johnson of Enron Communications, 503-833-4435, or email, claudia_johnson@enron.net; or Julie Keslik of Inktomi Corporation, 650-653-3071, or email, jkeslik@inktomi.com. /CONTACT: Claudia Johnson of Enron Communications, 503-833-4435, or email, claudia_johnson@enron.net; or Julie Keslik of Inktomi Corporation, 650-653-3071, or email, jkeslik@inktomi.com/ 11:02 EST Contact: /CONTACT: Claudia Johnson of Enron Communications, 503-833-4435, or email, claudia_johnson@enron.net; or Julie Keslik of Inktomi Corporation, 650-653-3071, or email, jkeslik@inktomi.com/ 11:02 EST
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