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Akamai Powers Ecast Network To Deliver The Highest Quality Out-Of-Home Entertainment Experience


WEBWIRE

Faster Download Speeds Account for More Than Eight Terabytes of Download Traffic Monthly on Ecast Network

CAMBRIDGE, MA .- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leader in powering rich media, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, announced that it is enabling Ecast to effortlessly distribute premium content via its network of broadband touchscreens in more than 10,000 bars and nightclubs across the country.

Akamai is helping to speed delivery of Ecast’s vast catalog of digital music and rich media advertising. An important benefit of the Akamai platform is the ability to push rich media content reliably across varying peak usage times. Ecast’s need to service different audiences -- including consumers, advertisers, jukebox operators as well as its own network operations staff, each with different needs and usage patterns -- has made it an imperative to utilize Akamai’s services.

“Akamai represents another one of Ecast’s competitive advantages,” said Dave Schmidt, vice president, products, Ecast. “Our ability to quickly and accurately distribute new releases of software, music catalogs and promotional content, including full screen video, to all of our 10,000 locations at once is a huge benefit to our customers and partners.”

A recent usage spike occurred on December 21, 2007 when Ecast saw the highest single-day usage and network activity in its history. Occurring at a normally busy time of year, the spike also fell on a Friday, which is typically the busiest day of the week. One-day consumer music plays exceeded daily averages by 36 percent. With other providers, Ecast would have exceeded its bandwidth ceiling and incurred thousands of dollars in overage charges -- and even worse, would have simply failed to meet consumer demand. But with Akamai in place, Ecast was able to effortlessly handle this spike in usage without taking a hit to the checkbook or in any way impacting the consumer experience.

“Younger audiences’ media consumption habits are rapidly changing, placing increased pressure on advertisers and the music industry to reach audiences in more engaging and compelling ways,” said Brad Rinklin, vice president of marketing, Akamai. “The ability to provide a more immersive and interactive experience allows Ecast to continuously drive revenue, engage a captive audience and create a dynamic environment for music enthusiasts.”

“Prior to implementing Akamai’s solution, we employed a time- and labor-intensive process to manage peak bandwidth. It often took five to eight hours to release such large content bundles. Now, with Akamai, we just ’let it fly’ and don’t worry about peak demand,” Mr. Spielman concluded.



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