Akamai and Telefonica enter into global content delivery alliance

Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Telefonica Global Solutions have announced a strategic global alliance to deliver Akamai´s suite of content delivery network (CDN) solutions to Telefonica enterprise customers.

To further enhance its CDN business, Telefonica Global Solutions is combining Akamai´s industry-leading content delivery platform with its own global IP network to deliver a suite of global CDN and telecom solutions to enterprises. The strategic alliance will initially focus efforts in Spain and Latin America with plans to expand globally.

In addition, the companies have formed an innovation steering committee to identify areas of product development and future opportunities, particularly in the fields of media optimisation and mobile technologies. As part of the multi-year agreement, Akamai and Telefonica plan to dedicate shared resources across technical support, customer care, marketing and professional services with a goal of providing the best end-user experience.

With over 323 million customers, including more than 254 million mobile subscribers, Telefonica provides high-performing networking solutions to support today’s explosive growth in digital content. Telefonica customers are expected to benefit from efficient content routing and high-quality delivery of digital content, video and Web applications, and ultimately a superior end-user experience.

“We are witnessing an unprecedented increase in connectivity from all kinds of devices, new digital services, and an explosion in the use of video,” said Juan Carlos Lopez-Vives, President of Telefonica Global Solutions. “Our alliance with Akamai reinforces our full commitment positioning Telefonica at the centre of the digital revolution. By offering our enterprise and multinational customers Akamai’s complete and premier content delivery solution as part of Telefonica´s global services value proposition, we are reinforcing our powerful global Content Delivery strategy.”

“Telefonica is one of the world’s leading, integrated telecommunications operators, with a strong presence in Europe and Latin America,” said Tom Leighton, Chief Executive Officer of Akamai. “Together, Akamai and Telefonica aim to align our services to be able to provide enterprises with the highest levels of performance and media optimisation. This important alliance represents Akamai’s continued expansion and investment in leading carriers around the world, and we look forward to our initial go to market opportunities with Telefonica in Spain and in emerging markets across Latin America.”

Akamai uses a widely-distributed platform of servers to spread online content around the world that would otherwise be concentrated in a few locations. The alliance with Telefonica provides greater distribution of Akamai servers within Telefonica’s IP network and provides additional capacity within Spain and emerging markets in Latin America. The result is greater network efficiency, better service quality for end users, and a more secure system.