Global communications provider Sprint
and Microcast, a provider of video
streaming services to the media industry, launched a multimillion dollar
agreement in which Sprint (FON)
will provide Microcast with dedicated Internet services.
Microcast, which gives viewers access to video that is streamed online from
content owners web sites, delivers targeted advertising with e-commerce
capabilities. As part of the three-year partnership, Microcast will leverage
Sprint’s OC-48 Internet backbone to power its navigable e-commerce Web site,
which allows the user to view an advertised product as well purchase product
in real-time. Sprint reports it has wired Microcast’s network to
simultaneously stream content to more than one-million Internet users.
Partnering with Sprint relieves Microcast of the worrying about its
underlying infrastructure, says Paul Nash, chairman and CEO. “We needed a
network that provided that delivered reliability, bandwidth and speed
necessary for ‘live’ and ‘cached’ video content,” says Nash. “Sprint’s
network does just that, allowing us to concentrate on delivering our service
to our customer base.”