Apple is apparently working hard on improving iTunes content download speeds for users, Streaming Media reports, with the company having already deployed its own content delivery network (CDN) that’s already serving some digital content to users, and having inked interconnect deals with ISPs to make sure content delivery gets prime treatment.
Apple has already turned on its CDN in the U.S. and Europe, although it’s not clear to what extent it operates, as it tries to replace the CDNs it’s currently using – Akamai (for iTunes traffic) and Level 3 (for Radio).For example, OS X downloads arrive directly from Apple’s CDN, Streaming Media has discovered, by doing trace routes on them from multiple ISPs.
The company clearly wants to further improve the user experience when it comes to streaming and downloading content, and for cloud services, from its online stores and servers by also handling the way content is delivered – or at least a part of it, as ISPs also play a role in it – but it will be a while until it’s able to move all its traffic to its own CDN. Furthermore, considering the increasingly larger number of iOS users who tend to update to Apple’s latest version as soon as it’s released, Apple may want to also make sure it doesn’t experience any download issues with any of its future operating system releases, such as the upcoming iOS 8 and Yosemite.
The publication writes that ISPs said “Apple has put a massive amount of capacity in place, with many saying that Apple has more than 10x the capacity they’re using today, all ready to go.” Apple has reportedly invested more than $100 million in CDN deployment and interconnection deals with ISPs. Comcast has been explicitly named as one of the ISPs that will receive interconnect fees from Apple.
