More and more operators to deploy caching, CDNs

CALIFORNIA, USA: The three-headed monster of video, mobility, and the cloud is putting enormous pressure on operator networks, and throwing more routers at the problem isn't the answer because traffic is rising much faster than equipment prices are falling, finds Infonetics Research.

In its recent 'July Fixed-Mobile/CDN Routing Strategies and Router Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey', the research firm finds that over fifty per cent of service provider respondents plan to deploy transparent caching or CDNs by 2014.

Michael Howard, co-founder and principal analyst, carrier networks, Infonetics Research, says: "This is driving a fundamental shift in how IP edge networks are being architected, with carriers combining their fixed and mobile networks for operational efficiencies and using caching and content delivery networks (CDNs) to move frequently used content closer to the consumer, speeding up response times and greatly reducing the amount of traffic crossing the network."

"Our survey shows the top 3 drivers for deploying CDNs are providing a better quality of experience for customers, network optimization, and reducing the cost and traffic load associated with delivering over-the-top (OTT) video content," Howard adds.

Four by fifth of respondent operator networks carry mobile traffic. Service providers rate Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, and Juniper as the top service provider edge router and/or CES vendors. They also top the list of core router manufacturers, it adds.