BT Group, the telecommunications titan, has broken new ground with a novel content delivery innovation. The technology, known as Multicast-Assisted Unicast Delivery (MAUD), is geared towards savvy viewers, heightening their viewing quality, and bolstering the convoluted path that leads to their screens.
Foregoing the conventional ‘unicast’ delivery, which assigns each viewer a private internet stream, the MAUD innovation leverages ‘multicast’ to amalgamate individual streams into one consolidated flow, routing it to the intended audience. Essentially, the MAUD technology is a transparent entity, requiring no modification to customer apps, hence, a considerable saving of resources.
The revolution brought about by MAUD does not stop at viewing quality and cost reduction. It also loops in environmental consciousness, slashing the bandwidth used during peak events by as much as 50% while reducing the energy consumed through fewer caches. This translates to a heightened viewer experience, decreased environmental impact and cost-cutting for broadcasters, Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and internet providers.
Howard Watson, the Chief Security and Networks Officer at BT Group, lauded the MAUD technology as “a major breakthrough in how we deliver content over the internet.” He highlighted the role of BT’s Adastral Park in developing the innovative technology, praising MAUD’s ability to deliver a consistent, reliable picture across various networks.
Paolo Pescatore, the Founder at PP Foresight, voiced his support for quality live content. He extolled BT group for staying ahead of the curve by providing premium live content to a wide audience, in an increasingly ecologically sustainable way.
Despite the surge in on-demand content, live content still holds sway, as evidenced by recent data from BT Group. The findings revealed that 90% still partake in live TV viewing, with over half indulging daily. Evidently, the quality and reliability of the picture are considered paramount, topping interactive features by nearly 3.5 to 1.
The MAUD technology, created by the Content Delivery Research team at BT’s Research Labs, was outlined at the International Broadcasting Conference in Amsterdam. It received acclaim and was dubbed as the most ‘technically efficient technology for IP-delivery of live content’ in a report by Analysys Mason.
