BBC iPlayer announces plans to keep ISPs happy

Wednesday 19 March 2008

The past year has seen the successful introduction of the BBC iPlayer, and despite the fact it was a slow starter it has finally given the UK the chance to view quality television on demand. The success of IP also means that ISPs are claiming that they're struggling to cope with the increased rate of streaming among their customers and there's also speculation that it could cripple the broadband business if more TV channels follow suit. In a recent report on The Register it was revealed that PlusNet showed in the month following its Christmas marketing launch, use of the BBC iPlayer increased streaming costs up by 200%. Concerns are now widespread that the BBC's intention to roll out the on-demand service onto mobile devices and set-top boxes could heighten the troubles. In order to calm the situation between the TV institution and ISPs The Register reports that the BBC is planning to invest in a development of its own Content Delivery Network (CDN), provided by a company such as Velocix. By doing this the BBC would install servers in ISPs' networks so that streams only have to be delivered to that point once, in order to save thousands of downloads. Anthony Rose, the man in charge of the iPlayer commented on the plans: "The closer you can get the content to the edge of the network the better for everyone," he said. "Content delivery networks are one of the many solutions we're considering to give consumers as better experience."

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However, the plan to adopt a CDN tactic has been touted as being wasteful, especially if the scheme to deploy fibre optic goes ahead. Speaking on the subject, The Register summed up: "The overriding fear must be that the telecoms industry, regulators and government might pull their collective finger out and deploy fibre to the home. Unlikely as that sounds right now, investment in a real next-generation UK internet infrastructure could swiftly render a CDN next to useless." Source: The Register

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