Warning over World Cup web disruption

IT experts are warning small businesses to be prepared for the disruption that World Cup viewing on work computers will have on their internet connections.

According to internet service provider Easynet Connect, just a few employees watching the games could grind smaller businesses to a halt.

Chris Stening, Easynet Connect’s managing director, says the web connections of small businesses could be brought to a crawl as workers use high bandwidth media streaming services to follow the World Cup via their office internet connections.

He says: “Traditionally, small businesses face a dilemma when deciding whether to allow employees to follow major sporting events during office hours. Whether it is through their PCs, phones or even pocket radios it is likely that fans will find a means of following the football regardless. This year however, small businesses need to consider the technical issue of bandwidth provision with large numbers of fans, especially those who are part of ‘generation Y’ who instinctively look to the internet to follow live events, using their work internet connections to follow the tournament.

“We’d urge businesses to act now to avoid any reduction in connectivity or productivity. Smaller companies should audit their ongoing and future bandwidth requirements and ensure that their connection can support their most critical applications as well as managing spikes in demand. For example, one person viewing full HD streaming via the BBC’s iPlayer requires 1.5Mbps, so to have five people using this kind of service without impacting upon other services would require a minimum connection of at least 8Mbps without considering the bandwidth required by apps such as VoIP or email.”

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