UUNET, an MCI WorldCom company and a global leader in Internet services to business, today launched its UUcast multicasting service. The first commercial Internet multicasting service available in the UK, UUcast dramatically increases the size of potential audience that can be reached using manageable bandwidth and server capacity.
Through the dedicated access links and dial-up networks managed by UUNET, UUcast provides transmission of live audio, video or tickertape over the Internet to as many suitably equipped desktop or home-based computers as can be attracted, at a fraction of the cost of other media streaming methods. Internet users wanting to receive a UUcast webcast need only ensure that they have media player software installed on their PC.
With the UUcast service the total audience demand is no longer aggregated which has in the past restricted the webcast either by bandwidth demand, server capability, or both. UUcast is currently capable of delivering US and UK audiences comparable with many traditional television services.
UUcast is able to reach all player-equipped dial-up users of the UUNET network as well as signed-up leased line networks and wholesale services provided by UUNET. These include Gateway.net, Manufree.net, Hemscott.net, Connectingbusiness.com and other UUNET Virtual Internet Service Providers as announced.
In addition to opening up considerable opportunities for customers in the media sector, businesses will also be able to use UUcast to send content including paid-for-information, corporate videos, executive speeches and training materials to employees, partners and customers.
Mark Desvaux, manager of business development for UUNET, has worked closely with key technologists in the media stream sector. He said: "UUcast totally changes the business potential for streaming media.
"To date webcasts have not achieved their full potential, with people more likely to see a network server busy message than a live football match or Number 10 ministerial address. Our investment in world-class network infrastructure and services has reached a major milestone where large-scale Internet multi-casts are at last commercially viable and can be routinely delivered to the player-equipped desktops connected to our backbone.
"With UUcast, UUNET is leading the way in UK multicasting and is yet another demonstrator of the potential of the Internet to transform and reinvigorate our economy with new ways of doing business."
UUcast customers are charged per stream depending on the size of their content. For example, a 5k multicast stream suitable for tickertape would cost £650 per broadcast, with a 128k multicast for high quality audio or video applications would cost £12,000 per broadcast. There is also a general one off set-up fee of £500.
Technical Details:
UUcast uses multicasting technology to transmit live or pre-recorded material. It works by enabling a content owner to send a single stream of audio, video or text, which UUNET can then deliver to its dial-up and dedicated access users via multicast enabled routers in the UUNET network. A user receives the live transmission by visiting the Web site of the content provider.
Users wanting to receive a UUcast webcast need only ensure that they have media player software installed on their PC. UUcast is compatible with all industry-standard media players, such as Microsoft's Windows Media Player and RealPlayer from Real Networks. These can be downloaded quickly and easily over the Internet and are often available for no charge.
Normal webcasting relies on unicasting techniques that involve, for example, sending 100 streams of information to reach 100 users, 1000 to reach 1000 and so on. This is comparable to the BBC sending six million viewers their six million personal live broadcasts of the Nine O'Clock News. This presents obvious problems that have severely limited the effectiveness of unicast based transmissions. These include the high cost of multiple transmissions and the inability to scale up to reach huge numbers online.
UUcast offers significant savings to the customer compared to unicasting by sending out a single data stream to the routers. For example it is calculated that a customer broadcasting a live concert on the Internet for over two hours with at least 500 viewers online at any one time costs 12 times less than a unicast configuration for the same requirement.
As with other recent advanced business services from UUNET, UUcast takes advantage of the inherent high speed, capacity and resiliency of UUNET's network backbone, as well as new infrastructure investments in Cisco's market-leading Internet solution for multicast based on the Cisco IOS software.
UUNET uses Cisco Powered Networks and this is a key component of the UUcast solution -- Cisco provides a comprehensive end-to-end solution for implementing multicast and eliminating the bandwidth constraints inherent in distributed group applications.
"In today's business environment, the Internet is the competitive advantage," said Merike Kaeo, Cisco business development manager. "Companies that are not exploiting emerging technologies, like multicast, to more effectively utilise the Internet will simply be left behind. UUNET is a prime example of a company that is embracing such technologies to enrich its Internet service offerings."
