Apple News: Content Delivery Network Now Live, Several Deals With ISPs In Place

Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) is planning to deliver a whole lot of content over the Web, and the tech giant has built its own global network to handle loads of data. Apple's content delivery network has gone live in the U.S. and Europe, Streaming Media blog said. The network will allow Apple to more easily deliver its own content -- video or downloads -- directly to consumers.

CDNs are intended to speed up the delivery of data to customers by placing servers in locations around the country.

The Cupertino, California, company has been working on the project since 2013 and has struck up agreements with big Internet service providers like Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) for direct interconnection to their network. For Apple, the CDNs could be an important piece of the puzzle as the company prepares to launch its long-delayed TV service, possibly next year.

Several ISPs disclosed that Apple has “put a massive amount of capacity in place, with many saying that Apple has more than 10 times the capacity they are using today, all ready to go,” Dan Rayburn, principal analyst at Streaming Media, said in the blog post.

The content delivery network will have the ability to deliver multiple terabits of data per second and will help the company effectively distribute new versions of OS X and iOS.

Traditionally, Apple has worked with third-party CDNs like Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM), of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Limelight Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:LLNW), of Tempe, Arizona, but now it has decided it can benefit by working directly with ISPs.

"While Apple will probably never completely move away from third-party CDNs, like Netflix did, they will rely less on third-party CDNs over time, just like we have seen with Microsoft, YouTube, Netflix and others," Rayburn said.

"Apple already controls the hardware, the OS (iOS/OS X) as well as the iTunes/App store platforms," he explained. "Right now they control the entire customer experience, except for the way content is delivered to their devices, and they are quickly working to change that. While Apple doesn’t own the last mile, paying to connect directly to it (in some places) and delivering content from their own servers allows them much more control over the user experience, especially for cloud-based services."