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Millions of fans are expected to watch England v Croatia in their FIFA World Cup semi-final using a mobile device
England’s World Cup semi-final match against Croatia this evening will create huge levels of data traffic across the UK’s mobile networks, as fans look to catch the action live on their mobile devices.
Research by UK mobile network operator EE, shows that throughout the World Cup tournament, broadband internet usage has dropped while mobile usage has surged. Last week’s quarter final match between England and Sweden saw the biggest surge in mobile network usage across England (but notably not in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland!), as shown in the attached image. Tonight’s semi-final match is set to place unprecedented demand on the UK’s mobile networks.
“We’ll see another all-time peak on the network,” said EE mobile director, Matt Stagg.
“Every game has driven more and more interest, and this will the same. But the locations will be different tonight – we’re back to a mid-week game, so there will be fewer fans watching from the beach, and more on their commute, or enjoying the evening sun in parks and recreational areas. And if the game goes to penalties, even the people who didn’t tune in for the whole game will switch on to catch the drama,” he added.
