March 13, 2008 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — IP services and content distribution provider Highwinds Network Group (highwinds.com) announced on Wednesday that Virgin Media (virginmedia.com) has selected its RollingThunder content delivery network as the CDN infrastructure for the company’s newly enhanced and expanded newsgroup service (virginmedia.com/customers/newsgroups/).
The companies have signed an IP infrastructure hosting agreement, enabling the UK-based Virgin Media to use the Highwinds CDN to provide rapid, anytime anywhere access to its newsgroup forums.
Virgin Media provides a range of entertainment and communications services, including quad play of TV, broadband, phone and mobile, and an advanced TV on demand service. Launching this spring, the company’s newly revamped newsgroup service will span thousands of topics.
Using Virgin Media’s dedicated high-speed link connecting to the Highwinds CDN, users will be able to access Virgin newsgroup service’s new features , including extended 90-day retention of text articles and seven-day minimum retention of binaries, as well as a full news feed covering thousands of groups.
“We at Highwinds are excited to be partnering with Virgin Media to improve the content delivery experience of their newsgroup subscribers,” says Robb Barkley, VP of corporate communications at Highwinds. “Our massive CDN with points of presence worldwide will play a key role in enabling Virgin Media to implement their advanced newsgroup service with greatly enhanced article retention, access speeds and availability.
The result of partnerships with Digital Rapids and Knack Networks, Highwinds’ RollingThunder network develops advanced IPTV solutions for professional media companies. The service enables video distribution solutions to be operated on both live and on-demand channels direct to the subscriber’s home or office.
Earlier this week, the company announced it has closed a $55 million round of equity financing, courtesy of venture capital firm, General Catalyst Partners, and private equity firm, Alta Communications.
