CAPE TOWN, November 7 (ANA) – ShowMax, the web-based video-on-demand service, announced on Monday that it had connected to NAPAfrica Johannesburg, the continent’s largest Internet exchange point (IXP), which would increase speeds and reduce delays.
ShowMax, launched in 2015, is available in 65 countries and houses Africa’s largest subscription video entertainment catalogue. NAPAfrica, launched in 2012, has more than 216 members live on the exchange, which is physical infrastructure through which internet service providers (ISPs) and content delivery networks exchange internet traffic.
Mike Raath, head of distribution at ShowMax, said the service had recently passed the 20 million cumulative views mark. Given the increasing traffic volumes, he said, “this peering agreement is coming at exactly the right time to help us continue to deliver the best possible video quality”.
“Streaming video over the internet isn’t difficult, but maintaining a consistently high quality service can be,” he said.
“By joining NAPAfrica we’re aiming to reduce latency and network hops, which ultimately means faster response times, fewer buffering events and a better overall customer experience,” Raath said, adding: “ISPs should also benefit from this move through reduced transit costs.”
The ShowMax statement said NAPAfrica was approaching more than 140Gb of peering traffic and expected an estimated additional 50Gb of traffic from ShowMax.
– African news Agency (ANA)
