PRIMUS Telecommunications Group Inc.
Thursday became the latest firm to bolster its streaming media delivery by
licensing Inktomi Corp.’s products
platform for its global IP network.
As part of the deal, Inktomi agreed to invest in PRIMUS,
though financial terms were not disclosed.
With the deal, PRIMUS , an application service provider, hopes to deliver
broadband content and streaming media much more rapidly to businesses.
PRIMUS will incorporate Inktomi’s Traffic Server, Content Delivery Suite and
Traffic Server Media-IXT as core infrastructure technology within its global
facilities-based network. PRIMUS is deploying a global IP network spanning
Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America to deliver a suite of bundled
services, including high speed data, Internet, Web hosting, hosted
applications and e-business offerings.
K. Paul Singh, chairman and chief executive officer of PRIMUS, said the deal
was important because it allows his firm to vastly improve its global
streaming media and content delivery reach.
“Inktomi’s alliance with PRIMUS reinforces our leadership position in
delivering essential Internet infrastructure technology to the world’s
leading networks,” said David Peterschmidt, president and chief executive
officer of Inktomi.
For PRIMUS, the play was the firm’s second global deal in the last six
weeks. In May, the firm grabbed InterNeXt S.A., an
Internet service provider with national facilities-based operations in
France, for an undisclosed sum.
PRIMUS has also taken steps to branch out its domestic arms. In June, the
firm enlisted Compaq Computer Corp.
to provide a full suite of professional services and an
integrated application service provider (ASP) infrastructure for its new
enterprise data center in Virginia.
Perhaps best noted for its search engine technology, Thursday’s deal with
PRIMUS speaks to the other half of the Inktomi’s capability — content
delivery and infrastructure. The firm’s last major play was its purchase of
Ultraseek, a subsidiary of Walt
Disney’s Go.com, to add
enterprise search technology to its business.
Inktomi shelled out $344 million in that stock and cash deal.
