The Walt Disney Company has conducted a trial over the last several months with Verizon whereby select, in-demand Disney Plus content can be more efficiently streamed on the wireless giant’s Fios wireline network.

Specifically, Disney Plus has trialed Verizon’s Open Caching platform, a technology based on open specifications developed by the Streaming Video Alliance. A joint news release says Open Caching “stores the most requested streaming video content, like Falcon and the Winter Soldier, in network facilities closer to the customer, which results in content starting faster, while also reducing freezing, pausing or playback failure during streaming.”

Said Joe Inzerillo, executive VP  and CTO of Disney Streaming, in a statement: “The ability for us to scale Disney Plus internet distribution and create optimal streaming experiences for subscribers around the content is paramount to our continued success as the flagship streaming service from The Walt Disney Company.

“As we experience increased demand for Disney Plus content, we are encouraged with the success of the Open Cache standards and the growing install base of that platform across global networks like Verizon,” Inzerillo added. "These deployments have given us scale while providing valuable distribution diversity enabling us to engage millions of more subscribers with the highest quality streaming.”

Internet consumer advocacy groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation have long opposed so-called "paid prioritization" schemes whereby large streaming service operators like Disney, Netflix and Amazon are able to negotiate favorable network access terms with ISPs, giving them an advantage over smaller service providers which may not have the same resources. 

Reps for both Disney and Verizon, however, insists the trial can't be construed as "paid prioritization," first and foremost because nobody is getting paid ... yet. 

"Once commercialized, our Open Caching platform, providing greater efficacy and efficiency in managing network resources, will be open to any and all content providers that are interested in leveraging it to provide a better viewing experience for their customers," a Verizon rep told us. 

Will all streaming service providers have to pay for access to Open Caching? And if so, will all of them be able to afford it?

"It's a little too early in the process to answer that," the rep added. "The trial phase is really all about figuring out the technology and how to optimize it. Once we move towards commercialization the teams will work to address those other aspects."

Verizon already serves as a key distribution partner for Disney Plus, delivering to customers of 5G unlimited wireless plans the bundle of Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus at no additional charge. Subscribers of Verizon unlimited 4G LTE plans get Disney Plus free for six months. 

In a move that aims to bring more scale to over-the-top video services, Qwilt and content delivery network provider Limelight Networks have stitched together an integrated caching system that places more content toward the edge of the network and closer to the end user.

The integration combines Limelight’s CDN with Qwilt’s “open” caching in ISP networks around the world.

The linkup with Limelight will help to improve the quality of experience and lower latencies of OTT services, Qwilt CEO and co-founder Alon Maor said.

While Limelight is the first on board with such an integration, Maor stressed that the agreement is not exclusive and that Qwilt has trials ongoing with other CDN and streaming infrastructure providers. He also noted that this is a technical integration, and that no money is being exchanged as a result.

“This is a very meaningful step toward an internet that’s not just for open connectivity, but also content delivery that’s closer to the edge,” Maor said.

Related: Qwilt Takes Live Streaming, VR to the Edge

He also confirmed that the work between Qwilt and Limelight stems from an “open caching” architecture/initiative that’s been undertaken by the Streaming Video Alliance that aims to drive more scale and quality into online video.

The SVA, a group formed in late 2014, is focused on specs and best practices for video streaming. Charter Communications, Limelight, Qwilt, Verizon Communications, Viacom, Yahoo and ViaSat were among the first group of companies to get directly involved in the SVA’s open caching project.

Qwilt, a maker of online video delivery and open caching products, said it has tapped former Cisco Systems exec Jesper Knutsson as vice president of sales.

In that role, Knutsson will head up Qwilt’s overall sales strategy and growth initiatives for the Americas.

Knutsson most recently was with Cisco, joining them following Cisco’s $5 billion acquisition of video software and security specialist NDS in 2012.

“The transformation from broadcast television to internet TV is at a critical juncture – a myriad of streaming content options and insatiable demand from subscribers are top of mind issues for network operators who must architect their networks to meet this demand,” Alon Maor, Qwilt’s CEO, in a statement. “We’re glad to have a sales leader like Jesper join our team and scale our sales efforts so more network operators can benefit from an open caching solution that increases network capacity and improves subscriber quality of experience. We expect his extensive industry experience and remarkable sales success will continue to accelerate Qwilt’s growth and expansion. ”

“Streaming video is ubiquitous in today’s society,” Knutsson added. “Consumers are cutting the cord and relying on OTT video for everything from Netflix to live streaming major events such as an NFL game or the Oscars. Qwilt has established itself as a leader in working with network operators to address the issues related to the industry transformation from broadcast to Internet TV. I look forward to my new role guiding Qwilt’s sales teams as we work with network operators to scale their networks for streaming video. ”

The Streaming Video Alliance (SVA) has published the guiding principles and system attributes that have been developed by its Open Caching Working Group.

The SVA was established by a number of major companies in the online video sector to help the industry overcome problems in expanding the online delivery of content by developing open architectures and standards. 

As part of that push, SVA set up the Open Caching Working Group to develop proposed standards, best practices and policy for a new layer of content caching within the ISP network that are close to consumers. 

Open caches offer a number of clear benefits by aggregating “compute and storage resources that complements, extends and enhances that of any individual CDN,” the group noted.

Read more at B&C.