Key Takeaways:
- Orange and Ceeblue have partnered to use WebRTS to deliver sub-second streaming over Orange’s standard CDN infrastructure.
- Sub-second streaming capabilites are now integrated within the Tier-1 Orange CDN network.
- Now available to any Orange CDN customer requiring real-time latency.
- WebRTS has been deployed in production on 4 continents since Fall of 2025, and is compatible with existing DRM workflows.
- Sub-second streaming is now accessible in developing markets that previously defaulted to HLS/DASH pipelines.
- Integration with Orange’s CDN required only minor configuration changes.
- More cost-efficient at scale and lower latency than LL-HLS or LL-DASH.
- WebRTC and MOQ were not economically viable for broadcast-scale distribution in this deployment.
- The partnership originated from a live shopping use case requiring immediate viewer response.
From the beginning, our vision for WebRTS was simple: if sub-second streaming only works in special conditions, it will never be able to change the status quo of live streaming. To make its mark on the world it must run on standard CDN infrastructure and support existing workflows with DRM. And what’s just as important if not more so: WebRTS has to adapt to the normal commercial constraints of the streaming industry.
There are many versions of low-latency streaming that look impressive on a slide or run on specialty infrastructure, that rely on UDP or are not yet feature-complete but will be “any day now.”
And maybe it’s not clear how these incomplete or specialty solutions will translate into the commercial reality of CDN contracts and cost pressures. Maybe the true TCoO is hard to decipher, but the more you learn about the solution’s complexity, the more apparent it is that the true price tag would quietly limit where this technology can be deployed.
In contrast to these pie-in-the-sky, super-complex solutions, WebRTS has been successfully and economically deployed by customers on four continents since its release in Fall 2025. Even though we’re still busy adding new features to it, all of the fundamentals have already been implemented: MBR, DRM, Congestion Control, Adaptive Live Point Recovery, the Player SDK, etc., which is more than we can say for other headline-grabbing technologies in the low-latency space.
We Did Not Want a Boutique Solution
From the beginning, our position was practical: If sub-second streaming only works under special conditions, it will remain a niche feature. It might appear in flagship events, or win technical comparisons, but it will not become the standard.
In the real world, live video is constrained by contracts, procurement cycles, regional availability, and cost discipline. Operators sign multi-year CDN agreements, manage multi-CDN strategies, and align DRM, analytics, and monitoring across established workflows.
Any new delivery format has to fit into that system. We see this constantly when speaking with broadcasters, iGaming operators, and corporate communications platforms. They are not asking for a science project that they’ll need to bend over backwards to adapt to. They are asking:
- Can this run on the CDN contracts we already have?
- Will this integrate with our existing DRM provider?
- Will this work within a corporate network?
- Can we deploy it across multiple regions without renegotiating everything?
If the answer to those questions is complicated, adoption slows down or even stops entirely.
WebRTS was designed to remove that friction. It runs over standard CDN caches and does not require specialized infrastructure. It does not depend on proprietary transport overlays and works inside the commercial and operational framework broadcasters and streaming platforms already use.
Ceeblue’s partnership with Orange Wholesale proves that point at a different level of scale.
Orange operates one of the most significant international backbones in the industry. Their CDN infrastructure supports carriers, OTT platforms, and enterprises across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, APAC and beyond. This is not a specialist edge network built for a single use case. It is mainstream infrastructure designed to deliver huge amounts of data worldwide.
Running WebRTS within that backbone is not about adding another logo to a compatibility list. It demonstrates that sub-second, scalable streaming can operate from within Tier 1 infrastructure, enhancing the performance for any Orange CDN customer with sub-second live streaming requirements, with the obvious pricing and performance efficiencies that this tight integration brings along with it.
Our goal was not to build a separate, premium, low-latency lane, but to design a format that runs over standard CDN caches, integrates with existing multi-DRM platforms, and scales using familiar traffic models.
Easy Integration with Traditional CDNs
When Orange’s CDN specialists began evaluating WebRTS, there was a reasonable assumption that integration would be complex. What actually happened was more straightforward.
WebRTS required parameter adjustments that modern CDNs already support. In many cases, those capabilities are already enabled. It was a short period of configuration refinement, not a structural overhaul. Once set, the system behaved predictably.
In terms of architecture, all we had to do was deploy Ceeblue WebRTS origins within Orange’s delivery network, thereby supporting an end-to-end on-net solution.
Sub-second streaming has finally grown beyond the specialty low-latency niche and is now natively available on a Tier 1 provider.
Compared to LL-HLS and LL-DASH, WebRTS can be far more cost-efficient because it avoids all of the structural inefficiencies or buffer fine-tuning issues that those formats introduce at scale.
Cost Efficiency vs LL-HLS and LL-DASH
It is important to address the alternatives directly.
LL-HLS and LL-DASH were designed to reduce latency within traditional HTTP streaming frameworks. They achieve improvements, but often at the cost of increased complexity.
Shorter segments. More frequent object requests. Far more origins required.
They can work well, but they are not trivial to optimize across large, multi-region deployments. In fact, many broadcasters opt for a short-chunk optimized HLS instead of LL-HLS, as it provides nearly the same latency reductions but without the complexities and constant playlist requests of LL-HLS.
From a commercial standpoint, this matters.
Compared to LL-HLS and LL-DASH, WebRTS can be far more cost-efficient because it avoids all of the structural inefficiencies or buffer fine-tuning issues that those formats introduce at scale.
This is not a theoretical claim. It is reflected in how the system behaves under real traffic patterns.
Right now MOQ is a collection of evolving drafts. There is no guidance, for example, on how to implement basic functionality like multi-bitrate playback.
The Origin (Story): A Real Use Case, Not a Lab Test
Orange was introduced to Ceeblue through Quanteec, our eCDN partner and one of the earliest adopters of WebRTS. Since 2025, Quanteec’s peer-assisted model has already proven that WebRTS operates efficiently in demanding corporate communications environments. When Orange Wholesale was looking for a real-time solution for live shopping, Quanteec connected the dots.
Live shopping presents a specific kind of stress profile.
- Geographic reach across multiple regions
- Sudden traffic spikes driven by promotions
- Interactive elements that require tight synchronization
- Revenue directly tied to immediacy
What Orange needed was sub-second streaming that:
- Ran on a CDN
- Scaled across regions
- Remained commercially sustainable
- Did not require architectural exceptions
Why WebRTC and MOQ Were Not the Right Fit in this Case
WebRTC remains valuable for certain applications, particularly where lower concurrency, interactive sessions are required.
However, at regional broadcast scale, the economics shift. Large-scale WebRTC distribution requires infrastructure and cost models that are difficult to reconcile with wholesale CDN pricing.
For the live shopping use case that initiated this partnership, WebRTC would have delivered on low latency, but not on sustainable economics. Deploying custom infrastructure in developing regions is not only costly but can also add operational risk.
WebRTS, however, operating on Orange’s CDN backbone, achieves sub-second delivery while remaining aligned with wholesale traffic models.
In the case of MOQ, this promising technology is still years away from being feature-complete. Right now MOQ is not so much a standard as it is a loose collection of ideas and evolving drafts. At the time of publishing, more focus is being given to Relay (Transport) and Contribution (Ingest), with Playback (Delivery) receiving the least attention. Despite the headlines, MOQ at scale just isn’t feasible as of today.
Additionally, MOQ doesn’t run on standard CDNs and isn’t compatible with standard players or with browser-based playback without gap-filling development work. There is no guidance, for example, on how to implement basic functionality like multi-bitrate playback.
The level of complexity and need for a specialty delivery network supporting complex relays would certainly make a MOQ deployment unfeasible, both technically and economically, in many regions.
Running WebRTS inside Orange’s network means sub-second performance is no longer tied to boutique pricing models.
Commodity Pricing, Serious Infrastructure
There is a tension in live streaming that rarely gets discussed openly: Product teams want lower latency, but finance teams want predictable traffic costs.
Low-latency streaming has often been positioned as a premium tier; something that has historically required dedicated infrastructure, so you obviously must pay extra for it.
Orange Wholesale brings something different to the table. Their CDN operates within the commercial reality most broadcasters and platforms already understand. Tiered traffic pricing. Predictable costs. High availability. Global coverage.
Running WebRTS inside that environment means sub-second performance is no longer tied to boutique pricing models.
For us, that alignment was important. If real-time video is becoming the new digital standard, it cannot remain a niche upgrade.
Where This Actually Shows Up
Before developing WebRTS, we spent a lot of time talking to operators in Sports, iGaming, Live Shopping, and Corporate Communications.
The same frustrations surfaced again and again.
A sports broadcaster told us, “Our viewers get notified of goals on social media before the play appears on the broadcast.”
A live shopping platform said, “The host says ‘buy now,’ but viewers are eight to twelve seconds behind.”
A company specializing in internal corporate all-hands meetings said, “We want Q&A interaction, but the delay kills the momentum. And WebRTC doesn’t always work well within corporate environments.”
WebRTS is fast and easy. It’s faster than terrestrial television. It’s even faster than radio broadcasts. And it can also be adopted fast.
Bringing Sub-Second to Markets That Defaulted to HLS
In many regions, the decision to use traditional HLS / DASH pipelines was never about preference, but was instead about practicality.
Those workflows are widely supported. Everyone knows how to implement them, they scale reliably, and, most importantly, they run everywhere.
The downside has been latency. Low-latency variants improved the situation, but they still inherit architectural constraints from their origins. In high stakes sports, or peaky live shopping, with traffic patterns susceptible to the whims of virality, scalability matters.
In emerging or rapidly growing markets, operators often prioritize reliability and commercial simplicity over aggressive latency targets. If sub-second delivery requires additional infrastructure or cost complexity, it becomes difficult to justify.
Orange Wholesale’s presence across Europe, Africa, APAC, and MENA provides a broad operational footprint. Bringing WebRTS into that footprint makes sub-second streaming available in places where it previously would have required additional negotiation or infrastructure planning.
With Orange Wholesale’s global reach, we can now bring sub-second delivery into markets where it previously felt out of reach or commercially unrealistic.
That has direct implications for:
- Sports broadcasters seeking synchronized multi-screen experiences
- iGaming platforms where outcome timing affects engagement and revenue
- Live shopping applications that depend on immediate response
- Enterprises running interactive global events
Instead of defaulting to legacy pipelines because “that’s what works here,” operators now have a credible alternative that fits existing infrastructure.
It was assumed that you had to choose: scale or immediacy. Those two needs are no longer mutually exclusive. You can have your cake and eat it, too.
No Reinvention Required
We are not asking operators to rip out their delivery stack. WebRTS runs over standard CDN caches, supports common DRM workflows, and fits inside multi-CDN architectures.
For customers who already work with Orange’s CDN services, the integration path is straightforward. For those building multi-CDN strategies, Orange becomes another high-quality, Tier 1 option in the mix.
WebRTS was designed to function across standard CDN environments, and as of this article’s publishing is supported by eight major CDNs.
This means operators can:
- Maintain multi-CDN architectures
- Optimize delivery regionally
- Preserve negotiating leverage
- Introduce sub-second performance without restructuring their network model
This flexibility is deliberate. We do not believe real-time performance should lock anyone into a single player or CDN vendor.
Again, if the technology only works in one place, it is not realistically positioned in the market.
There is also a natural European fit between our companies. Ceeblue is EU-owned, all of our development is done in Europe, and we take GDPR and data sovereignty seriously.
Real Traffic, Not a Demo
Another reason our partnership with Orange matters to us is that it is grounded in operational reality.
WebRTS runs fully-featured on Orange’s CDN infrastructure as it exists today, with advanced network congestion mitigation technologies and broad device support. This is not a custom deployment or a PoC.
That is important because our customers do not operate in perfect environments. They deal with real network congestion, regional traffic patterns, and fluctuating demand during peak events. Streamers may not all have the latest phone or a good network connection.
The work with Orange Wholesale has been about validating performance under those real-world conditions. It confirms that low latency and CDN-scale distribution are not mutually exclusive.
We have found Orange to be enthusiastic, trusting, and genuinely excited about pushing innovation forward in CDN delivery.
Why This Partnership Is Different
Many collaborations in this industry focus on feature alignment. This one is more structural and strategic.
It connects:
- A global Tier 1 backbone
- Established, commodity CDN pricing
- A sub-second streaming framework designed for standard CDN operation
Sub-second streaming has now become less of a specialized tier and more of an extension of mainstream delivery.
Regions that relied on legacy pipelines by default gain an alternative that fits existing infrastructure and commercial models.
Platforms expanding into new markets can evaluate real-time delivery without redesigning their workflows.
Why Orange Wholesale Has Been the Right Partner
One reason this partnership matters to us is simply that Orange Wholesale has been excellent to work with.
From the beginning, they approached us as a serious partner and a peer, despite the obvious difference in company size. They have always engaged with us in a way that was practical, professional, and refreshingly straightforward.
In day-to-day collaboration, they have been consistent, patient, and methodical. But just as importantly, they are personable. They know how to move things forward both with partners as well as internally, without creating unnecessary friction, and they have shown a willingness to work through details carefully while still keeping sight of the larger objective.
In this industry, it is easy for partnerships to get stuck between technical curiosity and commercial hesitation. With Orange Wholesale, they have been clear about what they want to achieve, realistic about what it takes to get there, and focused on building something with mid- to long-term value rather than chasing a short-term announcement.
On a personal level, we have also found them enthusiastic, trusting, and genuinely excited about pushing innovation forward in CDN delivery. That kind of attitude makes a real difference and creates the conditions for collaboration rather than simple vendor coordination.
There is also a natural European fit between our companies. Ceeblue is EU-owned, all of our development is done in Europe, and we take GDPR and data sovereignty seriously. Orange Wholesale brings the scale, reach, and infrastructure. We bring the low-latency streaming technology that can run efficiently within that environment. It is a strong match, not just technically, but operationally and culturally as well.
What This Means to Us Personally
There is a difference between announcing a partnership and feeling its impact.
For our engineering team, it is validation that WebRTS can operate within one of the most significant backbones in the world without compromise.
For our commercial team, it is the ability to say to customers in new regions, “Yes, of course we can support you there.”
For our partners, it is an ecosystem that connects CDN economics, backbone scale, and sub-second delivery in one coherent model.
But beyond that, it is about something simpler.
When we started pushing for sub-second streaming over standard CDNs, the idea was often met with skepticism. It was assumed that you had to choose: scale or immediacy. Those two needs are no longer mutually exclusive. You can have your cake and eat it, too.
The Industry Is Moving
Orange Wholesale has been vocal about real-time video becoming the new digital standard. We agree, but we also know that standards only emerge when infrastructure supports them. This partnership is one piece of that infrastructure shift.
WebRTS does not eliminate HLS or DASH. Those workflows will remain part of the ecosystem for a long time as VOD and non-interactive, non-instantaneous live streaming benefit from the large buffering afforded by HLS / DASH. But it introduces a credible, sub-second alternative at a global level, not just in isolated testbeds.
For regions that have historically been underserved in low-latency discussions, that matters. And for verticals that depend on immediacy, it matters even more.
Why It Matters to Us
We have spent years arguing that sub-second streaming should not be confined to niche deployments.
It should be deployable over standard CDN infrastructure and integrate with common DRM providers. And, of course, it should operate within normal traffic economics.
Working with Orange Wholesale demonstrates that this position is viable at a global scale.
The partnership does not require operators to rethink their entire architecture. It extends sub-second capability into the same operational and commercial framework that already supports large-scale video distribution.
For us, that is the real shift. Sub-second streaming is not a premium upgrade, nor an overcomplicated solution to the hyperscalers’ problems. It is a simple-to-implement technology that focuses on making things easy for the broadcaster, while at the same time improving the quality of experience of the audience.
We’re grateful to Orange Wholesale for being such a strong partner throughout this process, and we are excited to be working together on a project that is pushing the limits of what is possible for real-time CDN delivery.
If you are looking to bring sub-second streaming into your own delivery environment without abandoning the infrastructure and commercial model you already rely on, please reach out to Ceeblue or Orange Wholesale.
