Report: World Cup viewing doubles traffic demand
December 13, 2022
By Colin Mann
Pay-TV providers are experiencing unprecedented traffic demand on their video networks, driven by strong consumer interest in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 according to content delivery software and service provider Velocix.
Velocix has tracked the video traffic peaks in countries around the world as fans watch the football tournament in Qatar.
The company’s managed services team has recorded the largest viewing increases in Latin America, with pay-TV operators’ peak traffic levels rising by as much as 140 per cent in some countries. In Europe, the peak traffic increases have also been impressive, with video service providers experiencing surges of up to 82 per cent. In North America, modest increases in peak traffic have been recorded of around 20 per cent, potentially reflecting the lower profile of soccer in the region.
“Velocix has been working closely with many of the world’s largest pay-TV providers over several months to prepare their content delivery networks for the upswell in viewership caused by the FIFA World Cup,” explains Marco Rico, VP of Maintenance and Managed Services at Velocix. “This detailed capacity planning and network optimisation ensures consumers are able to enjoy the highest quality viewing experience, even as network traffic reaches record levels.”
“As the competition progresses through to the final, we are expecting even higher streaming traffic peaks. Over the coming days, we will be monitoring video networks as they come under greater pressure and will fine tune the CDNs as needed to deliver the best performance to sports fans around the world.”