Verizon To Snap Up EdgeCast To Further Bolster Content Delivery

Carriers far and wide have been angling to position themselves as more than just data and voice providers, and now, operators such as Verizon are starting to put their money up in order to prove the point. The company has this week confirmed that it will acquire EdgeCast, a content delivery network that has been around the block a time or two. The goal, according to Verizon, is to "enhance its video delivery and Web services capabilities," and it plans to integrate EdgeCast's "complementary capabilities to further improve and increase its ability to meet the exponential growth in online digital media content, as well as broaden its portfolio of site acceleration services for digital enterprises." 

It marks an important step in a carrier boldly attempting to get a better grasp on content delivery. Presently, EdgeCast is home to some 6,000 accounts, and some of the Internet's largest brands rely on it for media delivery. Now, that'll be under the Verizon umbrella, and that could obviously be a boon for Verizon as it looks to slide more into enterprise and get a better grip on an end-to-end solution that involves its network. Plus, with EdgeCast's technology in-house, it could (in theory) optimize code for more efficient delivery.

The deal is said to be in the area of $350 million, and while that's obviously a pretty penny, it's a rounding error for a global behemoth such as Verizon. By gaining access to the CDN accounts of Twitter, Hulu, Pinterest, and more, Verizon is better establishing itself on the services side of the business, just in case the skyrocketing growth on the consumer side begins to settle once smartphone penetration hits saturation.