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The news last week that Akamai Technologies had acquired Speedera Networks confirmed two things: The deal will end the companies' bitter rivalry and the content delivery market has matured out of its turbulent adolescence.
The acquisition, still subject to regulatory approval, is aimed at creating a global content delivery network (CDN) powerhouse that can better compete with emerging content and application delivery services from bigger players such as AT&T and Sawis Communications, (which through a series of acquisitions owns CDN firm Digital Island), Akamai executives say In addition, it puts an end to drawn-out legal squabbling between the two firms since all litigation is stayed as a result of the merger agreement.
"By the standards of business actions, it really makes a lot of sense. ... It's a simple, face-value good deal," says Peter Christy cofounder of NetsEdge Research Group. "But if you read between the lines, there were a bunch of legal actions that were about to reach some serious event. ... There was a call to action, there was a reason this happened now, otherwise the barrel was going to go over the waterfall."
The acquisition appears to...