Operators have long been struggling to provide video on demand (VOD) services, as their onboard train Wi-Fi systems currently lack the capacity needed to support content providers like Netflix and Amazon. Software company Netskrt CEO Siegfried Luft discusses a potential solution to this problem.
Siegfried Luft is the CEO of Netskrt, a mobile content delivery network that enables seamless streaming of live video onboard trains. The company, which was recently named ‘Emerging Rocket’ by business recognition list Ready to Rocket, relies on the internet of things, edge computing, and cloud analytics to deliver high-definition streaming video in hard-to-reach locations.
Adele Berti: What is the idea behind Netskrt?
Siegfried Luft: The biggest issue on the network today is internet video [streaming] and if you take a look at the impact that video has on the network, it’s not just a little bit. It’s a tremendous amount of extra data. For example, a few years back I acquired an internet service provider. Five years ago, my average subscriber would have 2GB a month. Today, the average is around 300GB, so 150 times more data.
It’s not that people have dramatically changed their time on their computers or televisions and certainly not [people sending and receiving] more emails. It’s just that when you start watching video an enormous amount of data is needed to display all that definition on the screen.
The other aspect of internet streaming is that it’s certainly coming into its dominance today. It’s not just a massive growth, everybody is consuming data now. So, people’s opinions are changing and their expectations are changing. We’re seeing a demand from the consumer that is starting to outpace the ability of the provider and that’s the basis for Netskrt.
AB: Why is this relevant for the rail industry?
SL: A solution that has been out there forever is video on demand and the challenge here is that in the case of trains, a train operating company (TOC) has to license the content that they’re going to provide. This is very expensive, like millions of pounds a year for a fleet and with that millions of pounds, you get [a few low-definition] movies.