03/16/19 A DETOUR AROUND NET TRAFFIC JAMS

A DETOUR AROUND NET TRAFFIC JAMS

EVERY TIME USERS CLICK ON the most popular Web sites, Internet service providers (ISPs) see a maddening pattern: The same data gets requested and sent back down the network again and again, adding to Net congestion and slow response times. Seven-month-old SkyCache Inc., based in Laurel, Md., is trying to break the logjam by using satellites to skirt network bottlenecks.
For $2,500 a month, SkyCache outfits ISPs with off-the-shelf satellite dishes that broadcast constant updates of the most popular Web pages to ISPs, which store the data locally. That can speed response times and free up bandwidth on the leased lines that ISPs use to connect to the Net. SkyCache says it can cut inbound traffic to an ISP in half.
How does SkyCache know which pages to broadcast? The ISP feeds the names of popular sites to the company. SkyCache is targeting the 3,000 small and midsize ISPs that don't run their own networks. So far, six have started using the service, including Freeside Communications, a midsize Texas provider. ''If we were trying to do the same thing over leased lines, we'd have to order additional circuits,'' says Jeremy Porter, Freeside's network director. SkyCache plans to offer the service to corporations later this year.
By Paul C. Judge
EDITED BY IRA SAGER