Germany's historic 7-1 defeat of FIFA World Cup hosts Brazil sent shock waves around the world, and also caused a huge spike in traffic volumes over mobile data networks.
According to information sourced by Citrix from its global cross-section of mobile operator customers, there was a 20-times increase in data volume from a single sports network (ESPN) over the mobile network during the semi-final between Brazil and Germany on July 8.
According to Anna Yong, senior product marketing manager at Citrix, the data volume dropped back almost to the normal levels of the previous day when the score reached 0-5 in Germany's favour.
"Being able to provide that type of network analysis is invaluable for operators looking to balance loads across their networks," Yong commented.
Yong said mobile video ordinarily accounts for about 60 per cent of data going over a mobile network, but the World Cup has had a massive impact on volumes worldwide.
"In the opening stages we saw mobile video volumes double during matches. As the tournament has progressed, we have seen total data volume over mobile networks increase by three times," said Yong.
As Yong pointed out, nobody could have predicted what would happen in the match between Brazil and Germany.
"But clearly as word spread, through social media sites such as Twitter, about events on the pitch, people wanted to tune in wherever they were and see the goals, this meant mobile was the natural choice for many," she said.
Germany is now set to play Argentina in the final on Sunday July 13, and Yong warned mobile operators to brace themselves: "We expect mobile video volumes will be bigger than ever," she said.
For more:
- see this Guardian article
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