Tulix, Zoom, and Others Offer Free Services for K-12 Schools

As schools move to online learning and companies embrace working from home in the face of COVID-19, suppliers in the online video space are rising to the challenge by offering some of their services free of charge.

Tulix is offering complimentary CDN and streaming services to K-12 schools, with 30Gbps of bandwidth, 24 hours a day, according to co-founder Nino Doijashvili. She says that storage can be provided "as needed," and that the company is in the process of upgrading to 120Gbps. "Zoom and other platforms can benefit from complimentary CDN and make schools happy," she says.

Zoom is also offering its videoconferencing service free for K-12 schools across the world. But it may be having trouble keeping up with demand; as of this morning, Zoom's status page reported problems with dial-in numbers in Australia, Hong Kong, and Japan, though all of its services are operational.

Not all companies are able to offer free services, but platforms are working to make it easier for customers to get up and running. Last week MediaPlatform announced the availability of same-day, turnkey enterprise live webcasting packages.

Content publishers are stepping up, too. The Metropolitan Opera in New York is streaming archival performances for free, with a different opera streaming every day this week. Broadway theaters are evaluating ways to deliver performances to homebound theater fans, and many museums already offer virtual video tours.

Internet service providers and mobile carriers are lifting data caps or offering broadband and wireless to K-12 students for free or at reduced rates. Consumer Reports as a list that's being updated as more companies join the effort. 

It's not all work and no play, either. Telecom Italia reported a 70% increase in traffic, and credited online games like Fortnite for a major portion of that.

Know of any other free webcasting or streaming services? Add them in the comments section below.