Akamai delivers up to 30% of the world’s Web content

India stands on the threshold of becoming one of the world's biggest mobile video consumers with over 100 mn users accessing the Internet via mobile devices alone. But access to high-speed Internet in the country is still low, most hardly get 100-200 kbps. Poor bandwidth has been the biggest challenge for businesses to make an impact on digital economy. Delivering high-quality video experiences should be constant while maintaining low abandonment rates when users experience slow-loading videos. Nakul Srinivas, Product Marketing Manager, Asia-Pacific & Japan, Akamai provides deeper insights on the subject in a conversation with Dataquest. Excerpts

Given the poor bandwidth and low QoS delivered by service providers here, any Internet based service-whether it be cloud storage or streaming video, still remains an exclusivity. For instance many are forced to watch 240P resolution videos with 720 P/1080P out of bounds. In this backdrop, when Akamai says: "We are poised to provide a unique perspective on the growth of video in the region," what exactly you mean by that can you expand on this context?

According to ComScore, there has been 27% increase in the Indian online video audience over a year in 2013. Video will continue to be the largest online application for news, entertainment, and sports in the coming years. Providing video content that meets customer expectation comes in with the challenge of scale. With the proliferation of mobile devices and platforms across various networks, users need a customized and optimized delivery of video content for their instant viewing. Akamai addresses this challenge by dynamically adapting video streams according to the location of the request and adjusting between high and low quality and depending on the bandwidth of the network irrespective of platform or device. Hence, Akamai is able to deliver smoother higher quality videos to consumers at a faster rate.

Akamai delivers up to 30% of the world's web content, most of which is video over its Intelligent Platform. The data collected from the platform enables Akamai to construct an accurate and comprehensive picture of what's happening on the Internet.

What is the role of FastTCP here. Can you share more on that and the genesis of FastTCP and its impact on video delivery and greater customer experiences?

FastTCP is an improved version of the TCP protocol which is the foundation protocol for HTTP. FastTCP deployed on the network is a means of improving our network. FastTCP uses algorithms that anticipate congestion and settle the packet transition rate which results in better average throughput.

The improvements as a result in streaming media bitrates and reduced file download times help enhance user experience to Akamai's media customers. FastTCP provides greater benefits when the network is slower or basically when the packet loss of the network is high. We have deployed this protocol on all our servers and use it when delivering media without having to make changes to the end points or devices picking up the data.

Network providers here does not offer the bandwidth promised (to put it bluntly some cheat/fleece the customers) and customer activism on making the services providers to offer greater QoS is very dismal. So given this, what is the panacea Akamai can suggest to network providers to up their bar in providing higher quality of service?

At a granular level, there are some changes that needs to be made in ecosystem. The government and the service providers are working closely to develop rural telecom infrastructure and is also set to roll out next generation (3G/4G) services in the country.

From a technology point of view, Akamai is closely working with telecom providers in improving the efficiency of the bandwidth with web solutions. Akamai Intelligent platform is designed to handle the challenges that organizations face in site performance, video delivery, and security.

What are some of the inhibitors network providers face here- technologically and businesswise?

The Internet is not designed for speed. In the early ‘80s, the original architects were focused on reliability, and speed was a secondary concern. Earlier the Internet was only meant for text, however, all that has changed. People now spend a substantial amount of time online consuming their daily news, watching movies and TV shows, playing games, downloading music and updating software. With increased use of the Internet, speed is now the focus and reliability is just assumed. Challenges with speed, performance, reliability and security are some of the obstacles and gaps in the network that needs to be addressed.

In terms of video consumption patterns out of India, how is it growing?

According to ComScore, India's online video consumption has doubled in the past two years-the number is now at 3.7 bn videos per month. This is due to the factor that people are spending a substantial amount of time online either watching daily news, movies or TV shows, etc. The report also states that the total online video audience in India has grown 74% to 54 mn viewers. The average viewer is now watching 18% more videos and spending 28% more time viewing. As the broadband connections speeds and the number of broadband connections increases, this number is bound to go high in the coming years.

If you say, "next generation of monetization beyond ads and subscriptions' how it can be done?

Whether monetization comes from advertising, subscription, pay-per-view, or any other models is not important. The ability to identify and deliver what drives audience engagement is the key to success. Measuring the key drivers of audience engagement-content, packaging, and quality can help publishers optimize their offerings to increase audience engagement, loyalty and reach. Media analytics solution can provide the content and audience intelligence needed to run business.

What is your outlook for India? Do you see things improving on the Internet front?

The increasing adoption, the India's Internet market will require a unique approach to content and application design. For example, mobile users will demand limited textual content and more video based content. Also, there will be a need to make content available in greater variety of Indian languages.