Corporates should bulk up on their broadband and video streaming infrastructure, as demand for video has boomed worldwide and it is a powerful tool for reaching audiences, says complete broadcast service solutions company Global Access MD Rick Grantham.

Companies can use video for training, marketing, communica- tion, reputation management, branded information and news purposes. He points out that the long-term benefits of using streaming or rich media options for communication and training purposes are massive.

Corporates can take advantage of video for communication purposes by using a range of techniques. In the short term, while broadband is still not readily available in South Africa, video can be delivered using a satellite signal to a main hub, which then delivers content from a media server through a local area network to local users. Grantham says that companies can combine retail signage and content with video-on-demand content, such as information clips on a local server, rather than using broadband. This will make use of internal communication and training budgets to support marketing budgets to fund these projects.

“The broadband sector is growing in South Africa and many telecommunications and Internet providers are installing fibre infrastructure in the country,” he says. Bulking up broadband infrastructure includes negotiating better deals with suppliers and putting pressure on them to provide better broadband deals.

Grantham adds that it is more cost effective to host videos exter- nally on a content delivery network (CDN).

He explains that the purpose of a CDN is to make video more accessible to users, as it understands the type of connection a user has and delivers the video feed at the correct speed for viewing by the user. CDNs manage bandwidth effectively from a hosting perspective. Web video company YouTube has its own CDN and there are many public CDNs available worldwide. Two South African companies may announce the establishment of a South African CDN in 2010.

Grantham points out that one of the large growth areas is going to be in providing content, whether companies produce their own content or create demand in the video content industry.

“Global Access believes that the way forward is to have content output deals in place with production companies, as companies that establish video communication channels must commit to these and deliver a certain volume of content,” he says.