Fastly has been adding global reach to its network in support of increasing real-time web, app, and API content delivery traffic. Africa is the next logical step in its global campaign says Tom Daly, Vice President of Infrastructure at Fastly.

To support its drive into the Africa market, Fastly has secured the help of privately owned global network service provider Workonline Communications and data centre service provider Teraco.

"Fastly learned about Teraco's datacentre service offering at the Pacific Telecommunications Council event hosted in Honolulu, Hawaii each January. Michelle McCann of Teraco provided detailed information about the datacentre and connectivity market in South Africa which helped us speed the site selection and decision making process," Daly explains.

He adds that it was at the Global Peering Forum later in the year when Fastly determined that Workonline Communications had sufficient network capacity and technical capability to offer the required level of support.

"Teraco's offering and support of growing NAP Africa IXP enabled Fastly to quickly obtain a localised network presence in Jhb," Daly adds.

Content Delivery Networks

Fastly plans to leverage its edge cloud services to differentiate itself in the market in which it competes with the likes of Akamai Technologies and Limelight Networks.

Daly says edge cloud provides traditional content delivery networks service, but layers on security, load balancing and value-add edge services.

"An African business can leverage Fastly to have a global internet reach instantly. A site can be hosted in Jo'burg, onboarded to Fastly at our JNB POP, and then replicated throughout the world instantly to Fastly's 35 global POPs. This means users can have a consistent browsing speed and experience, whether they are sitting in Jo'burg, London, or Tokyo," Daly adds.

Workonline and Teraco provide services to Fastly only. Both companies have provided Fastly with help to find local internet engineering contacts on an occasional basis (as is typically done in the Internet engineering community).

The partners describe CDNs as an essential tool to successfully conduct business online, primarily because, as they explain, the Internet was not originally built to handle the demands of massive amounts of data, live HD video, flash sales, and large downloads that have now become the standard.

"CDNs ensure that the Internet works better, delivering media at scale, and enabling a better experience for the end user," the partners state.

Edward Lawrence, Director of Business Development, says, "We realise the importance and the benefits of a CDN deploying in our market, particularly in terms of improved quality and cost reduction. Major CDNs like Fastly's offering add enormous potential to the development of the local market as a whole. Workonline Communications is committed to providing the best for Africa as well as to developing the African market in every way possible. We are excited to be involved in the launch of Fastly in Africa."

Michele McCann, head of business development at Teraco, agrees that it is consumers who ultimately benefit from access to a CDN rich in content: "Fastly provides a CDN service to digital organisations like BuzzFeed, Pinterest, Shopify, Shazam, and Alaska Airlines from key access points on the Internet (POPs). This indispensable service reduces network transit time when delivering content to end-users who are now able to enjoy a richer experience from these online organisations."