text: Open edge cloud 
   
   Boldly go where no cloud has gone before 
   
   The open edge cloud establishes a software layer leveraging standard compute and storage massively distributed in the last mile of service provider networks, creating a powerful content and application delivery solution. Armed with a suite of Open APIs that enable rapid resource allocation, the edge cloud ushers forward a new generation of content delivery - one built for the insatiable performance demands of next-generation applications - while leveraging the unique capabilities, reach and scale in service provider last-mile networks. 
   
   This edge cloud architecture and technology gives service providers greater control, flexibility and ability to differentiate with new services. ||||| Google’s YouTube has reached a preliminary deal to buy Twitch, a popular videogame-streaming company, for more than $1 billion, according to sources familiar with the pact. 
   
   The deal, in an all-cash offer, is expected to be announced imminently, sources said. If completed the acquisition would be the most significant in the history of YouTube, which Google acquired in 2006 for $1.65 billion. The impending acquisition comes after longtime Google ad exec Susan Wojcicki was named CEO of YouTube earlier this year. 
   
   Reps for YouTube and Twitch declined to comment. 
   
   SEE ALSO: Why Google Wants to Hitch Twitch and YouTube 
   
   San Francisco-based Twitch lets users upload and watch free, live gameplay videos that can be streamed from Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 consoles, and also sells a $9 monthly ad-free subscription and subscriptions to individual channels for about $5 per month. The company claims to have more than 45 million monthly users, with more than 1 million members who upload videos each month. It also has deals to distribute shows from partners including CBS Interactive’s GameSpot, Joystiq and Destructoid. 
   
   YouTube is preparing for U.S. regulators to challenge the Twitch deal, according to sources. YouTube is far and away the No. 1 platform for Internet video, serving more than 6 billion hours of video per month to 1 billion users worldwide, and the company expects the Justice Department to take a hard look at whether buying Twitch raises anticompetitive issues in the online-video market. 
   
   Twitch was launched in June 2011 by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear, co-founders of Justin.tv, one of the first websites to host livestreaming user-generated video. Shear currently serves as CEO of Twitch. 
   
   Founded in 2011, the startup has raised about $35 million in funding. Investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Alsop Louie Partners, WestSummit Capital, Take-Two Interactive Software, Thrive Capital and Draper Associates. Twitch Interactive, which includes Justin.tv, has about 130 employees. 
   
   SEE ALSO: Major League Gaming, Twitch Compete to Become the ESPN of Videogames 
   
   Gameplay videos already are a highly popular category on YouTube. Twitch also plays in the separate “e-sports” market covering live professional gaming competitions; others in that space include tournament organizer Major League Gaming, a New York-based company whose investors include Oak Investment Partners and Relativity Media CEO Ryan Kavanaugh. 
   
   In March 2014, Twitch represented 1.35% of all downstream bandwidth on North American fixed-access broadband networks — nearly triple from last fall, according to bandwidth-equipment company Sandvine.
target: – YouTube is on the verge of a $1 billion-plus deal to buy Twitch, sources tell Variety. If you're not nerdy enough to know, Twitch is a popular destination for video game fans, where top players (or anyone, really) stream video of their play sessions. The company boasts that it has more than 45 million monthly users, more than 1 million of whom stream content. During one week in April, it accounted for 44% of all US streaming traffic, according to Qwilt. Just how close the deal is to done is unclear; Variety says it "is expected to be announced imminently," but the Wall Street Journal characterizes talks as "at an early stage." YouTube is bracing for anti-trust objections, given how large its lead already is in the online video space. The Google unit has more than 1 billion monthly users, but its streaming service, YouTube Live, actually lags behind Twitch. Basically, Twitch users are engaged, while YouTube's aren't, a Qilt VP says, "and engagement is what drives advertising."