PBS in the fast data lane?

Filed in archive Analysis on June 13, 2006

The demand for high bandwidth will only increase, especially with IPTV on the horizon. How will it be served?
> Content distribution networks, such as Akamai, use edge servers that are less expensive than vanilla web distribution but still costly.
> P2P is increasingly be used, including via Kontiki, Bit Torrent, custom, and open P2P networks and software.
> The telcos/cablecos seek to create their own dedicated high speed toll roads
> Google has acquired dark fiber that will likely be used in this way.

Robert Cringely adds another idea to the list with Local Heroes: Could the Key to Successful Internet Television Be...PBS? Cringely points to the asymmetry of service provider networks where the internal bandwidth is 100 times that of the external pipe to the Internet.

It's a combination of edge servers in the service provider network that capitalizes on PBS's existing interest as a TV channel/content provider and non-profit charter. It's an elegant solution as less than 1,000 servers would be needed to cover all telco and cableco markets. However it's still a walled approach that would only capture IPTV subscribes, i.e. customers who buy premium IPTV packages from their telco or cableco. That will be a small market for quite a while.