BitTorrent opens subsidiary in Japan

BitTorrent has established a wholly owned subsidiary headquartered in Tokyo.

The company said that BitTorrent Japan will address a growing demand for peer-assisted content delivery technology among Japanese content publishers and consumer electronics manufacturers.

Japan has some of the world's most advanced broadband and mobile networks, electronics devices and game consoles, as well as web services.

BitTorrent believes that there is high demand among content publishers and electronic software providers for BitTorrent Delivery Network Accelerator (DNA), a secure, managed peer-assisted networking platform that reduces bandwidth and content delivery costs.

BitTorrent DNA enables websites to provide a better end-user experience by adding speed, reliability and efficiency to their current content delivery infrastructure.

The company said that there is also high demand among Japanese hardware manufacturers to integrate BitTorrent's software development kit into next-generation consumer electronics devices.

BitTorrent is already working with Japanese device manufacturers such as Buffalo Technology and Planex Communications to integrate its technology into the latest network-attached storage devices, wireless routers and set-top boxes.

"We are intrigued by Japan's advanced broadband environment that exists as a result of innovation and competition among ISPs," said Ashwin Navin, president and co-founder of BitTorrent.

"BitTorrent has the ability to leverage the capacity that exists within the Japanese internet to create great user experiences for online applications while dramatically reducing infrastructure costs for publishers."

The company believes that, although P2P technologies are still misunderstood as a result of being abused, BitTorrent's security, performance, efficiency and technical merits will become the leading peer-assisted delivery platform in Japan for on-demand video, software, and video games.

"Having a physical presence in Japan promises an unparalleled level of support to our Japanese partners and commitment to customer success," added Navin.