Akamai Said To Be Guaranteeing AT&T $100M In CDN Reseller Deal

At the end of last week, and over the weekend, multiple people from the industry were sharing with me what they know about the negotiations between Akamai and Limelight, who are both competing for a CDN reseller contract with AT&T. Everyone I spoke with said they expect Akamai to win the contract and all of them also said that as part of their proposal, Akamai is guaranteeing AT&T at least $100M in revenue, over a multi-year deal. Some people told me the deal size was $100M and others said it was “more than” $100M, but either way, it sounds like Akamai has put forth the best revenue numbers.

While $100M may sound like a lot of sales, when it is spaced out over a couple of years, it’s really not that much revenue for AT&T. But I’m also hearing that Limelight was only willing to guarantee half as much revenue to AT&T, between $40-$50M, which if true, it’s probably one of the reasons why everyone I speak to keeps saying Akamai will win the deal. Of course, until a contract is signed, none of this is official and we still need to see AT&T execute on this new strategy. Companies put a lot of ideas and plans on paper, without following through with them, but from everything I am hearing, it sounds as if AT&T is looking to wrap this up pretty soon and sign a contract with Akamai or Limelight.