Lucent Technologies Inc. and Mirror Image Internet
Inc. Monday teamed up to develop and market technology that would
dramatically improve the way content is delivered over the Internet.
At the heart of the alliance is a
collaboration agreement to further Lucent’s new Internet Content Delivery
and Distribution business (iCDD).
Together with Lucent offspring Bell
Laboratories Inc., the companies intend to develop ways to distribute
Internet content faster and more efficiently, so that the Internet becomes
easier for people to access.
As the online community shifts gears to access the Internet through
wireless devices and optical networks, the challenge will be to transform
potentially complex Internet content into interactive Web sites over
portable devices.
Arun Netravali, Lucent Technologies’ Bell Labs president, said Mirror
Image’s content access point network has an excellent distribution
architecture for Lucent to build upon.
“Their approach to using sophisticated data storage techniques to solving
Internet speed issues complements our focus on optical routing,” Netravali
said. “Mirror Image has developed a scalable, robust solution to distribute
Internet content globally.”
“By pooling the resources of Bell Labs with the cutting-edge technology
development at Mirror Image, we are jointly creating the next generation of
Internet content delivery and distribution technology,” Netravali added.
Cos Santullo, Mirror Image president and chief executive officer said it
was pleased to have Lucent as a partner to further develop the a global
content distribution solution.
“Bell Lab’s commitment and Lucent’s vision for this fast-growing Internet
segment will benefit users, service providers and content providers
worldwide,” Santullo said.
The alliance covers technology development, marketing and sales on a global
basis. The partners intend to offer improved Internet content delivery
products and services to service providers, content providers and
enterprises worldwide.
Lucent established a new business group dubbed the iCDD to focus on contend
delivery market, currently estimated at $374 million but expected to grow
to about $6 billion in four years.
Bill O’Shea, Lucent executive vice president of strategy and business and
iCDD chairman, said Lucent is focusing its resources on content delivery
and distribution technology because it is the next step in the Internet
frontier.
“We want to make the Internet infrastructure more accommodating to an even
wider range of applications while reducing its complexity for the people
who actually use it,” O’Shea said.
“Our goal is to help service providers
create an Internet experience for their customers that is appealing and
useful in all aspects of their lives.”
Mirror Image is principally owned by Internet holding company Xcelera.com Inc. The
content delivery company received a financial infusion in April when Exodus Inc. took a
15 percent stake in Mirror Image. At the time of the deal, the transaction
was worth $637.5 million in stock and cash. Hewlett-Packard Co. invested
$52 million in the firm.