Vodafone Partners with Qwilt and Cisco to Deploy Open Caching, Improving Streaming Services for Millions of Customers Across Europe and Africa

Deployment of Qwilt and Cisco’s all-edge Content Delivery Network (CDN) solution will enhance digital streaming experiences for customers across two continents

News Summary

• Deployment utilizes joint solution from Qwilt and Cisco, integrating Qwilt’s Open Edge Cloud for Content Delivery platform with Cisco’s edge compute and networking infrastructure
• Solution gives Vodafone a telco cloud platform for future edge CDN use cases

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – July 11, 2023 – Qwilt and Cisco announced that they will deploy their content delivery network (CDN) solution to Vodafone, increasing the quality and capacity of Vodafone’s streaming delivery to its mobile and fixed broadband customers across Europe and Africa.

Vodafone will embed the solution at the edge of its networks, closer to customers, so that they can receive highly responsive and quality streaming services. This model will allow Vodafone to expand the solution and business opportunities to other content and application owners, and they in turn gain higher quality access to the millions of customers using Vodafone’s fast and reliable networks.

Following a successful trial in Italy, Vodafone will initially start deploying the service in seven countries across Europe and Africa. The roll-out of services will progressively ramp up as Qwilt and Cisco work with additional service providers worldwide in a move to create the world’s largest federated CDN. This will be supported by a global, consistent edge cloud footprint that benefits content publishers, service providers and customers.

Giorgio Migliarina, Products and Services Director, Vodafone Business, said: “Our partnership with Qwilt and Cisco enables Vodafone and its broadcast partners to deliver a superior streaming service to customers. It means less buffering and lower latency services for the end user.

“Also, by using open caching, we can more easily scale the service to meet the growing demands for live streaming, video-on-demand, and application services whilst providing content providers with a standardized platform built on Open APIs across multiple countries in Europe and Africa.”

Nadia Benabdallah, Network Strategy and Engineering Director, Vodafone Technology, said: “In recent years we have built one of the largest internet networks worldwide. It connects all Vodafone markets, strategic partners and many millions of our customers to an integrated globally scaled platform.

“We continue to evolve our strategy, setting ever higher industry standards for our customers and remaining one of the strongest players in the market. We are now excited to start a new phase of this strategy. One that will strengthen the quality of the service delivered to our customers, further decrease the cost of gigabits carried and open new opportunities for business growth.”

The solution, comprised of Qwilt’s Open Edge platform and Cisco’s Edge technology, provides Quality-as-a-Service content delivery by pushing content caching and delivery far out to the embedded edge of the network. Content publishers can get started quickly and use the joint solution to deliver content closer to users, significantly improving the viewing quality.

“We are thrilled to partner with Vodafone, the largest pan-European and African telecommunications company. By harnessing the power of Open Caching, Vodafone is using its capabilities and position as a significant network operator to take an active role in effective content delivery, and to expand opportunities to monetize this value chain while enabling the next generation of content experiences across its markets. This deployment significantly expands our global, all-edge delivery network, bringing us one step closer to our goal of reaching all consumers around the globe with the high-quality digital experiences they need and expect,” said Alon Maor, CEO, Qwilt.

Today, over 150 service providers have partnered with Qwilt to enable the open edge in their networks, serving over one billion unique subscribers globally. They include Verizon in North America; BT in the UK; TIM Brazil and Telecom Argentina in Latin America; Airtel in India; J:COM in Asia-Pacific; Telefónica and Vodafone in EMEA; and Vodafone in Africa.

About Qwilt

Qwilt’s mission is to deliver connected experiences at the quality they were imagined. Its model is built on partnerships with service providers and content publishers, globally, to create a fabric that powers high-performance delivery of media and applications at the very edge of neighborhoods, big and small.

Qwilt’s open architecture and inclusive business model make local edge delivery more accessible than ever before, unlocking more reliable, higher quality-of-experience at greater scale than previously possible. A growing number of the world’s leading content publishers and cable, telco, and mobile service providers rely on Qwilt for Edge Cloud services, including Airtel, BT, Telecom Argentina, Telecom Italia, TIM Brazil, Vodafone, and Verizon.

Founded in 2010, Qwilt is a leader of the Open Caching movement and a founding member of the Streaming Video Technology Alliance. Qwilt is backed by Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Cisco Ventures, Disruptive, Innovation Endeavors, Marker, and Redpoint Ventures. For more information, visit www.qwilt.com.