Level 3 helps deliver Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics for France Télévisions

[khurramdar]

Level 3 helps deliver Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics for France Télévisions

Thursday, 25 February 2010 10:36

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) announced it is working with France Télévisions to help deliver the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics in high definition (HD) to online and mobile audiences from Feb. 12 to 28.

France Télévisions is delivering the Games live to the Web and Apple iPhone during the two-week event from 7 p.m. PST until 6 a.m. PST and providing on-demand content at all other hours. The delivery is made possible using Level 3’s content delivery network (CDN) and Live Event services, alongside Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) Live Smooth Streaming and Microsoft Silverlight.

IIS Smooth Streaming is designed to help improve the quality of an online video stream by minimizing broadcast disruptions through varying the quality of the delivery in real time, based on the available bandwidth of a given computer.

“France Télévisions’ broadcast of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics is a great opportunity for viewers to experience the type of HD-quality live, online video that Microsoft and its partners can deliver with technologies like Silverlight and IIS Live Smooth Streaming,” said Steve Sklepowich, director for Silverlight at Microsoft Corp. “Level 3’s CDN integration is essential to providing viewers with a high-quality online viewing experience of the Winter Olympic Games.”

In addition to delivering the Games to online users, Level 3’s CDN platform allows the company to easily direct the same video content to mobile users. This year, viewers have access to high-quality content from the games right on their iPhone.

“By working closely with Microsoft, and leveraging the expertise of the Level 3 broadcast team and the highly-scalable, adaptive capabilities of our CDN, we’re able to provide quality end-to-end solutions for live events,” said James Heard, president of European Markets for Level 3. “Whether viewing the games from a desktop or an iPhone, we’re committed to ensuring the highest possible quality viewing experience.”

This event is the latest in a series of live event broadcasts between Level 3 and Microsoft. Since 2009, Level 3 and Microsoft have worked together to deliver more than 20 premier live events around the globe. Delivery of the games will be managed and monitored from the Level 3 Broadcast Operations Centre in Dublin.

To learn more about Level 3’s CDN services, please visit w*w.level3delivers.com.

About Level 3 Communications

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) is a leading international provider of fiber-based communications services. Enterprise, content, wholesale and government customers rely on Level 3 to deliver services with an industry-leading combination of scalability and value over an end-to-end fiber network. Level 3 offers a portfolio of metro and long-haul services, including transport, data, Internet, content delivery and voice.