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England game drives web stream surge
Internet traffic in the UK rose significantly yesterday as workers turned to the BBC's live web stream to watch England's crucial World Cup game against Slovenia.
Early data indicates that the number of 'concurrent streams' peaked at 800,000 during the afternoon match. The BBC said the streaming figure was a record, but the total online viewing audience for the game would most likely have been much higher.
The corporation indicated that its servers had coped well with the massive rise in demand, avoiding similar criticism as ITV endured when its online service struggled under heavy demand during the opening game between Mexico and South Africa.
The England game, which saw the team go through to the knockout stages, was watched by 9.22 million on BBC One, with a further 753,000 tuning in to BBC HD.
According to figures released by internet service provider KC, the match resulted in a 31% spike in web traffic as users logged on to the BBC's live stream.
However, Demon Internet claimed that internet use actually increased by 55%during the game compared to a typical Wednesday afternoon.
The surge in web demand was largely due to workers having to watch the game online as many employees had made no other provisions.
A survey of 1,500 small businesses by software developer Sage revealed that just 20% of firms had introduced legitimate viewing options, such as a TV in the office.
Speaking to The Guardian, Demon boss Matt Cantwell said that the surge in web traffic during the World Cup "could cause problems" for small and medium businesses.
"If they can't run their business normally during a World Cup match and ban their workers from keeping an eye on games during working hours, then inevitably, the business will lose out both on productivity and customer satisfaction," he said.
"Whatever happens, it's a lose-lose situation for those without the right network infrastructure and support."
Akamai recently reporting that web traffic on the World Cup's opening day broke the previous record set by the 2008 US presidential election.
On June 11, traffic to news websites reached nearly 12.1 million visitors per minute, compared to the 8.5m visitors per minute during the night of Barack Obama's historic victory.
Internet traffic in the UK rose significantly yesterday as workers turned to the BBC's live web stream to watch England's crucial World Cup game against Slovenia.
Early data indicates that the number of 'concurrent streams' peaked at 800,000 during the afternoon match. The BBC said the streaming figure was a record, but the total online viewing audience for the game would most likely have been much higher.
The corporation indicated that its servers had coped well with the massive rise in demand, avoiding similar criticism as ITV endured when its online service struggled under heavy demand during the opening game between Mexico and South Africa.
The England game, which saw the team go through to the knockout stages, was watched by 9.22 million on BBC One, with a further 753,000 tuning in to BBC HD.
According to figures released by internet service provider KC, the match resulted in a 31% spike in web traffic as users logged on to the BBC's live stream.
However, Demon Internet claimed that internet use actually increased by 55%during the game compared to a typical Wednesday afternoon.
The surge in web demand was largely due to workers having to watch the game online as many employees had made no other provisions.
A survey of 1,500 small businesses by software developer Sage revealed that just 20% of firms had introduced legitimate viewing options, such as a TV in the office.
Speaking to The Guardian, Demon boss Matt Cantwell said that the surge in web traffic during the World Cup "could cause problems" for small and medium businesses.
"If they can't run their business normally during a World Cup match and ban their workers from keeping an eye on games during working hours, then inevitably, the business will lose out both on productivity and customer satisfaction," he said.
"Whatever happens, it's a lose-lose situation for those without the right network infrastructure and support."
Akamai recently reporting that web traffic on the World Cup's opening day broke the previous record set by the 2008 US presidential election.
On June 11, traffic to news websites reached nearly 12.1 million visitors per minute, compared to the 8.5m visitors per minute during the night of Barack Obama's historic victory.