Company snapshot
| Category | BT (British Telecom) | CDNSun |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
CDNSun, founded in 2012, is a content delivery network provider based in Prague, Czech Republic. It offers services like website acceleration, video streaming, and software delivery through a network of over 50 points of presence (PoPs) worldwide. Its customer base includes businesses seeking cost-effective CDN solutions, particularly small to medium-sized enterprises. CDNSun emphasizes affordability with a pay-as-you-go model and a 15-day free trial. The service supports HTTP/2 and provides free shared SSL on its *.r.worldssl.net domain.
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.
CDNSun operates more than 50 PoPs across five continents, including locations in North America (e.g., Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas), Europe (e.g., Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London), Asia (e.g., Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo), South America (e.g., Sao Paulo), and Australia (e.g., Sydney). All edge servers use SSD drives for faster data access and have redundant connectivity to robust internet networks. The network supports global content delivery with a focus on reducing latency for websites and streaming services. Specific routing or peering details are not publicly disclosed, but the provider claims strong performance for global audiences.
Feature comparison
| Feature | BT (British Telecom) | CDNSun |
|---|---|---|
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.
CDNSun uses a pay-as-you-go (payg) model with no monthly or setup fees. A 15-day free trial (free-tier) is available for all services. Pricing is transparent, with custom options for high-volume users, but specific per-GB rates are not publicly listed. SMB-friendly pricing targets smaller businesses. The official pricing page is https://cdnsun.com/pricing/.
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.
CDNSun offers an API-first approach for managing CDN services, including access to real-time logs. It provides integration support via a dashboard and API, with 24/7 technical support through email, phone, and live chat. No specific Terraform or CI/CD integrations are documented. The service includes tools for testing performance gains, such as ping tests and downloadable test files (1 MB and 20 MB).
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.
- Small to medium-sized businesses needing affordable, pay-as-you-go CDN services with a free trial.
- Companies targeting global audiences with video streaming or software delivery needs.
- Developers seeking an API-driven CDN with real-time logs for monitoring.
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.
- Enterprises requiring advanced security features like WAF, DDoS protection, or bot mitigation.
- Businesses needing specialized edge compute, key-value storage, or advanced video features like DRM.
- Users prioritizing extensive integrations with Terraform, CI/CD pipelines, or specific cloud platforms.
History & Notes
—
—