Company snapshot
| Category | BT (British Telecom) | CDNetworks |
|---|---|---|
| Status | active | active |
| Founded | — | — |
| Headquarters | — | — |
| Website | — | — |
| Docs | — | — |
Overview
BT (British Telecom), founded in 1846, is a major UK telecommunications provider offering CDN services through its edge infrastructure. It leverages the Streaming Video Alliance’s Open Caching technology, developed with Cisco and Qwilt, to deliver content for 8K video and AR/VR applications. The service targets enterprise customers, particularly those needing high-capacity video delivery. BT operates under its EE brand for mobile services and Openreach for broadband infrastructure. Its CDN is designed to handle modern streaming demands, serving media companies and large-scale businesses.
CDNetworks, founded in 2000, is a global content delivery network (CDN) provider offering services for web performance, media delivery, and cloud security. Headquartered in Singapore, it serves industries like e-commerce, gaming, and media, with clients including Alibaba, Samsung, and Hyundai. Its CDN Pro (formerly CDN360) focuses on delivering static and dynamic content with enhanced security features. The company emphasizes strong network presence in Asia, particularly China, and provides solutions like DDoS protection and edge computing. CDNetworks is owned by Wangsu Science & Technology since 2017.
Network & Architecture
BT’s CDN uses a global network with points of presence (PoPs) integrated into its extensive telecom infrastructure, though specific PoP counts are not publicly disclosed. It employs Open Caching to turn existing telecom infrastructure into a federated CDN, optimized for low-latency delivery of high-bandwidth content like 8K video. The network benefits from BT’s EE mobile coverage, reaching over 99% of the UK population, and Openreach’s fibre backbone. It has strong regional presence in EMEA, particularly the UK, with peering optimized for European traffic. Coverage in APAC, LATAM, or other regions is less emphasized.
CDNetworks operates over 2,800 Points of Presence (PoPs) across six continents, with a strong focus on the Asia-Pacific region, including China and India. Its network leverages global peering and an anycast architecture to optimize routing and reduce latency. The company holds an ICP Beian license, enabling compliant content delivery in Mainland China. Regional strengths include extensive coverage in APAC, but its North American and African footprints are less dense compared to competitors like Akamai or Cloudflare.
Feature comparison
| Feature | BT (British Telecom) | CDNetworks |
|---|---|---|
waf | ✗ | ✓ |
bot_mitigation | ✗ | ✓ |
ddos | ✗ | ✓ |
rate_limit | ✗ | ✗ |
http3_quic | ✓ | ✓ |
tls13 | ✗ | ✓ |
tiered_cache | ✗ | ✗ |
origin_shield | ✗ | ✗ |
instant_purge | ✗ | ✓ |
stale_while_revalidate | ✗ | ✗ |
stale_if_error | ✗ | ✗ |
image_optimization | ✗ | ✓ |
video_vod | ✓ | ✓ |
video_live | ✗ | ✓ |
drm | ✗ | ✗ |
hls_dash_packaging | ✗ | ✗ |
websockets | ✗ | ✗ |
signed_urls | ✗ | ✗ |
edge_compute | ✗ | ✓ |
functions | ✗ | ✗ |
kv_storage | ✗ | ✗ |
api_first | ✓ | ✓ |
realtime_logs | ✓ | ✓ |
log_push | ✗ | ✗ |
terraform | ✗ | ✓ |
Legend: ✓ = Supported, ✗ = Not supported, — = Not listed
Pricing
BT’s CDN pricing is enterprise-focused, typically requiring custom contracts rather than pay-as-you-go or public per-GB rates. No free tier or public pricing details are available. Interested parties must contact BT’s sales team for quotes, as pricing is tailored to large-scale deployments.
CDNetworks uses a customized pricing model, typically enterprise-focused, with quotes based on data transfer, feature usage, and contract terms. Public pricing is not fully transparent, but estimates suggest $0.03–$0.15 per GB for data transfer and $0.005 per 10,000 HTTP/HTTPS requests. No free tier or pay-as-you-go options are publicly advertised; pricing requires contacting sales for a tailored quote. See https://www.cdnetworks.com/pricing/ for details.
Integrations & DevEx
BT provides an API-first interface for managing CDN configurations and accessing real-time logs. Documentation is available at https://www.bt.com/about/developers. There is no public mention of Terraform support, SDKs, or specific CI/CD integrations. The focus is on enterprise integrations for media delivery, with limited emphasis on developer-centric tools or migration utilities.
CDNetworks supports Terraform for infrastructure-as-code, with OpenAPI Explorer for API integration. Its CDN Pro Portal and API provide access to real-time logs and analytics, facilitating monitoring and optimization. SDKs are not extensively documented, but the API-first design supports custom integrations. Migration tools are not explicitly mentioned, though the console supports cloning configurations for easier setup. CI/CD integration is possible via APIs but lacks native plugins for common pipelines.
When it fits
- Enterprises needing high-capacity video delivery, especially for 8K or AR/VR content, leveraging BT’s telecom infrastructure.
- UK-based businesses requiring strong regional performance with EE and Openreach integration.
- Organizations seeking custom enterprise CDN solutions with direct support from a legacy telecom provider.
- Businesses needing strong CDN performance in Asia, especially China, due to CDNetworks’ ICP Beian license and extensive APAC PoPs.
- Enterprises requiring integrated security (WAF, DDoS, bot mitigation) alongside content delivery for e-commerce or gaming.
- Organizations leveraging edge computing for serverless applications with global reach.
When it doesn’t
- Small to medium businesses looking for pay-as-you-go or transparent pricing models.
- Developers needing extensive edge compute, serverless functions, or advanced security features like WAF or DDoS protection.
- Companies prioritizing global coverage outside EMEA, as BT’s network focus is heavily UK and Europe-centric.
- Small businesses or startups seeking pay-as-you-go or free-tier options, as CDNetworks focuses on enterprise contracts.
- Users needing dense PoP coverage in North America or Africa, where competitors like Cloudflare have broader reach.
- Developers requiring extensive SDKs or native CI/CD integrations, which are less emphasized compared to Fastly.
History & Notes
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