BT partners with Edgio on MAUD TV streaming tech

BT has taken a further step forward with MAUD, a new technology it has developed with the aim of reducing the live sports and gaming load on broadband networks.

Unveiled in December 2023, MAUD (for multicast-assisted unicast delivery) has now secured its first content delivery network (CDN) partner in the form of US-based Edgio. BT said the collaboration "takes the technology from proof of concept to real-world application with the first live CDN deployment."

Edgio’s CDN will now be integrated into MAUD and, BT hopes, pave the way for other CDN providers to follow suit. The partners plan to trial delivery of TV content from BT-owned mobile operator EE on some set-top-boxes in the live network, in the coming months.

As explained by BT, CDNs are a critical part of the content delivery path as they store or cache content as close as possible to the customer. For MAUD-enabled CDN operators such as Edgio, it added, the technology will provide dedicated delivery for streaming TV over the internet.

Howard Watson, chief security and networks officer at BT Group, observed that BT's goal is to develop an efficient live streaming solution that addresses the needs of players within the content delivery path.

"Partnering with Edgio, we’re pioneering an effective content delivery system that seamlessly integrates with CDNs, making it accessible for external content providers," Watson said. 

Friends of MAUD

Emma Whitmore, group vice president EMEA at Edgio, said the CDN provider has worked with BT Group "since the inception of MAUD."

BT also announced in March this year that it had entered into a technical collaboration with France’s Broadpeak on MAUD, and would bring the latter’s multicast ABR (mABR) technology into the MAUD solution. At the time, Broadpeak said it was providing BT with components "to create the world’s first MAUD-enabled network, including its nanoCDN mABR."

The UK operator has also previously trialed MAUD with CDN provider Qwilt, which is owned by Cisco.