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Why Did Qwilt Originally Join the Streaming Video Technology Alliance?
Streaming video is an important evolution in how we experience digital entertainment and myriad other information. Before the SVTA was founded, we saw very limited ecosystem collaboration and companies acting in silos, which yielded limited and sub-optimal solutions for the industry. We saw an opportunity to bring the streaming community together to collaborate on new ways to improve the end-to-end experience. As we’ve made progress, we realize this is only the tip of the iceberg. The infrastructure that powers today’s high-quality streaming traffic will continually need to scale to power the applications of the near future and beyond – from immersive experiences to ultra-low latency edge computing.
Over the years, collaboration initiated by the SVTA helped reveal the value of the edge as a fundamental component of the new streaming architecture. At Qwilt, we think of this opportunity as the Open Edge. Qwilt joined the SVTA to help create and foster a growing and vibrant ecosystem that makes the Open Edge possible, enabling countless new applications to come and enrich our lives.
Over The Past 10 Years, How Has The SVTA Consistently Met The Needs of The Streaming Video Industry?
10 years ago, the thought of live streaming an NFL playoff game or World Cup Cricket match to 10s of millions of fans around the world would have seemed a monumental and impossible task.
Over the last 10 years, the SVTA has invested considerable effort into establishing critical guidelines, best practices and specifications for Open Caching, enabling the creation of a robust, unified and interoperable content delivery ecosystem that can support today’s streaming-centric world – from video to gaming to massive software downloads. Working as the co-chair of the Open Caching Working Group since its inception, I’ve witnessed the incredible power of collaboration as the SVTA has brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including major content owners and technology behemoths, to startups and savvy tech pros to make broadcast-quality streaming a reality.
Being a part of the SVTA has created an environment where we can not only contribute to the larger good of the industry, but along the way, Qwilt has been able to establish deep, mutually beneficial, and vital partnerships with service providers around the world. These partnerships are the foundation of our all-edge network, now supporting content delivery for some of the world’s largest streaming platforms.
Thanks to the work done within the SVTA, Open Caching is now a massive commercial success. Over 180 service providers, including SVTA members Telefonica, Verizon and Vodafone, have deployed Open Caching. Through their partnership with Qwilt, these service providers have united to form the most distributed, federated edge network in the world. Just last month, Comcast announced plans to deploy Open Caching throughout its national broadband network in the U.S. Today, Open Caching is enabling the delivery of high-quality live and on-demand streaming from content providers, such as SVTA member Disney Streaming, to myriad viewers on every continent. These achievements would simply not have been possible without the SVTA.
What Do You Feel Are The Major Challenges Still To Be Tackled In The Streaming Industry And How Do You Feel The SVTA Can Help In The Years To Come?
The streaming media ecosystem is very complex, requiring cooperation among a wide variety of players, across myriad technologies. The most important role of the SVTA is the collaboration that it fosters. As the team at Qwilt continues to tackle challenges in our ongoing quest to build and maintain the world’s largest, high-performance edge network, we will rely on the relationships that we’ve built through the SVTA and the ones still to come.
The SVTA does an amazing job of continuing to bring in new innovators, keeping the work fresh and the momentum strong. As we move beyond streaming, we will continue to rely on our colleagues at the SVTA for their expertise in all things edge.
What Has Been Your Most Memorable/Rewarding Experience As An SVTA Member?
We were there at the very beginning and helped envision the potential of this alliance of innovators. It’s been amazing to watch it grow and expand over the last 10 years, filling a significant gap in what was then a fledgling industry.
From working groups, to member meetings, webinars and now an industry conference, the many Qwilt participants in the SVTA enjoy the opportunity to work with our industry colleagues, learn new things, and even have some fun. This journey is so much more enjoyable when you get to share it. And knowing that we’re helping to connect people around the world with entertainment, communication, knowledge and more gives all of us great satisfaction and pride.
From the celebration of the Alliance’s first year at FOX Studios, we knew this was a forum that would go the distance, creating long-term impact on the streaming industry. We’re very proud to be part of it – from one “big idea” to the reality of today’s commercial successes.
We look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of what it means to deliver difference to consumers around the world.
What Advice Would You Give Someone Considering Joining The SVTA?
Come with an open mind and creative ideas. You’ll work with people and companies across the streaming ecosystem – some may even be your competitors – but we’re all here to make streaming video better. You won’t regret it. The people you meet, the things you will learn, and the collaboration that is ingrained in the Alliance are priceless.
And for individuals within member companies, the SVTA provides the opportunity to establish yourself as an industry expert, not only representing your company and the technology that you care about so passionately, but also becoming an integral part of the streaming ecosystem yourself.
We encourage anyone who cares about the future of streaming to join our amazing community.
Yoav Gressel
SVP, Research and Development
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 edge caching and compute more accessible than ever before, unlocking higher reliability and 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’s Open Edge services, including Airtel, BT, Cirion, Comcast, Disney, Telefonica, Verizon, and Vodafone.
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 the link below.