Infocom-SpeedCast tie-up sets trend for RP’s global interlink

The mounting need of local Internet service providers (ISPs) to bypass the traffic-congested Internet hub in the United States may push them to follow the lead of Infocom Technologies Inc.

Infocom, one of the country’s top ISPs, has successfully bypassed that circuitous route by linking up with Hong Kong’s leading broadband infrastructure firm SpeedCast Ltd. for its streaming multimedia content, or the cable TV programs that can now be viewed easily, swiftly and clearly through the Internet.

The link-up involves the use of satellite disk for the non-stop delivery of multimedia content directly from SpeedCast in Hong Kong to Infocom in the Philippines, without passing through the Internet traffic center in the US.

This so-called "satellite IP (Internet Protocol)" speeds up the transmission of content, as the process becomes a one-way affair between SpeedCast and Infocom.

Otherwise, the content will have to travel from Hong Kong to the US and then to the Philippines. "And since all information dispatched from every ISP worldwide must pass through the US, the traffic can be so terrible that it affects the quality of transmission and cause packet loss," said Edwin Santos, Infocom product development manager for corporate and consumer access.

"Before, even e-mail sent from Cebu to Manila had to pass through the US first before it could reach its local destination. Thus, ISPs in the Philippines got organized to link themselves directly and avoid that costly roundabout," Santos said.

For that same reason, SpeedCast gathers the cable TV programs from other countries, each on a one-way stream, and beams them all directly to Infocom round the clock.

This enables Infocom subscribers to easily access SpeedCast’s cable TV programs online anytime of the day and get high-quality viewing.

"All they have to do is go to the Infocom homepage, click the Multimedia section, and there emerges the whole lineup of cable TV channels and programs to choose from," said Melanie Tan, marketing manager for content and corporate affairs.