Limelight Networks has announced it has increased its network egress capacity by more than 70% to support the growth of online traffic and the needs of customers in the Middle East. The additional capacity has been implemented in an environmentally sensitive manner, setting a new standard for more energy efficient content delivery solutions, and is in response to the growing need from end-users in the Middle East, underpinned by exponential growth in digital services, covering media and entertainment.

Since January 2019, Limelight has increased egress capacity to over 70 terabits per second with 130 points-of-presence. Limelight’s expansion, along with the Ericsson Edge Gravity initiative, added new content delivery capabilities in service provider networks.

As part of the Middle East expansion strategy, Limelight’s strategic initiatives for 2020 include upgrading their regional infrastructure with POPs located in Bagdad, Beirut, Istanbul and Dubai and opening eight additional POPs in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Jeddah), Kuwait City, Baghdad and Beirut this year.

Limelight has recorded a surge in end-user base in the region, especially as more content is produced locally, targeting regional audiences. This also builds on the strong network infrastructure in several countries in the region, which also accounts for the highest levels of internet and smartphone penetration.

Also supporting the sustainable development vision of the regional government, the increased capacity means users will need less power for content delivery, minimising impact on resource use and the environment. As more global providers expand their presence to the region, and more media houses look at digital content to support their traditional news delivery model, the increased capacity by Limelight will support their digitalisation strategy and create more operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Ersin Galioglu, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Limelight, said: ‘We have increased our content delivery capacity in the Middle East to support the ongoing digital transformation plans of the region. As nations such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia focus on smart city development, by tripling our capacity at the end of 2020, we will help meet the needs of regional OTT offerings for broadcast quality, with a target of zero buffering and 100% uptime. This will significantly enhance the quality of delivery in the region.”