Fan across the country are expected to watch a whole host of Premier League games on Amazon Prime on Boxing Day, leading experts to wonder if the internet can handle that much streaming
Festive footie is at risk of a total internet meltdown, experts are warning.
A huge amount of live streaming through set-top boxes could cripple Britain’s broadband and mobile data networks this Christmas.
Netflix will air two NFL games on Christmas Day, including one featuring a half-time performance by Beyoncé. Amazon Prime will show eight Premier League matches on a bumper Boxing Day.
Marc Allera, the outgoing chief executive of BT’s consumer division, has warned the internet will struggle to cope with huge demand for the fixtures.
Huge numbers of folk are now accessing their live sport through web streams on smart TVs and streaming devices like Amazon’s Fire sticks.
As we move away from traditional antenna, satellite dishes and underground cabling, this puts a growing strain on Britain’s internet infrastructure.
Mr Allera compared the surge in data demands to the M1 motorway – saying the more traffic the internet carries, the more congested it gets.
“The challenge for network operators is that these super-peaks place extremely high and volatile demands on mobile or broadband networks,” he said.
Mr Allera warned this can result in buffering and delays that ruin the enjoyment of live events.
IT analyst Alex DeGroot added: “This Christmas is massive in terms of the number of events which are going to be broadcast.
“There is a real issue with capacity in the UK and that’s only going to grow.
“We don’t really know what the IP (Internet Protocol)-only world will look like, but we’re heading in that direction and it will be a challenge.”
A government spokesman said: “Peaks in traffic due to major events are not uncommon in the UK and networks are equipped to respond to large spikes in bandwidth.”
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