Abstract
Video content makes up the most significant slice of all traffic generated by Internet Service Provider (ISP) networks and is the primary driver for future bandwidth increase. For internal ISP delivery, native IP-Multicast is the most efficient way to deliver video in a group-like manner but poses challenges such as additional configurations, security issues, and hardware compatibility along the whole network path. Unicast transmissions, on the other hand, do not scale well for large requests of video content but are the most straightforward way of delivering Over-the-Top (OTT) content. Content-Delivery Networks (CDNs) are the cornerstone for scalable OTT services that rely on unicast transmissions, but the significant growth of such services poses a threat to ISPs, at capacity and business levels. However, multicast transmissions may not fit future requirements due to the lack of scalability for OTT videos. To this end, this research work discusses two approaches for video content delivery and provides a bandwidth consumption forecasting model, evaluating the methods considered to support network operators infrastructure planning. Results from the forecasting model show that for an European operator scenario a unicast-type approach fits better, and for a North American operator scenario, the hybrid approach is considered the best proposal.