INTERNET
New network aims at streamed content
03-10-2000
by Paula Mythen
Servecast.com has announced details of a USD40 million investment to develop the first pan-European network infrastructure dedicated to the delivery of streamed media content.
In partnership with Compaq and Cisco, Servecast.com is building a network of powerful servers (Points of Presence) in 16 key European cities linked by a high-speed backbone to form a high capacity network for on-line video and audio delivery. The network, due for completion in March 2001, will provide applications such as live and on-demand broadcasting, on-line training, product demonstrations, corporate communications, investor relations and on-line video conferencing through clients' Web sites or intranets.
"The business trend of outsourcing is growing at an incredible rate with latest predictions estimating a market value of USD151 billion by 2003," Kevin Quinn, CEO of Servecast.com, said in a statement. "Our dedicated network ensures that clients won't have to put up with the traditional problems of slow distorted sound and images associated with first-generation webcasting".
Servecast.com was established in 1998 and has received investment from Denis O' Brien, the former President of Linkage Software Robert Jull, and Setanta Sports, the closed-circuit satellite sports broadcaster. Servecast.com has also received vendor financing facilities from Compaq Financial Services. Servecast is Dublin based but opened its operational HQ in London earlier this year and has plans to roll out in Brussels, Frankfurt, Madrid, Stockholm, Paris and Milan over coming months.
The company broadcasts content over the Internet including special events, radio station broadcasts, business conferences and investor relations events. Allied Irish Banks recently used Servecast.com to stream its interim results, allowing all audiences to receive the information simultaneously.
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