The ongoing football competitions Euro Cup and Copa America have helped create a new record on Nepal’s internet Traffic. The national daily Gorkhapatra has reported.
Football fans are having a festive period. Due to the ongoing Euro and Copa America, they are having to deal with heavy schedules but with glee. The die-hard football fans are enjoying crunch Euro and Copa America matches from 9:45 PM till 7:45 PM. And an amusing fact is their incessant viewing has hit a new record on Nepal’s internet.
According to Gorkhapatra, Nepal’s internet traffic skyrocketed on Ashar 15. On that day, two nail-biting matches of Round 16 were played out in Euro. France played Switzerland and England locked horns with their arch-rival Germany. The highly competitive matches produced 17 goals in total including penalties.
After the first match between France and Switzerland began at 9:45 PM, internet traffic suddenly mounted. Internet Exchange Nepal which measures internet traffic says, Nepal’s internet traffic had reached 49.889 Gbps. Executive Director Rupesh Shrestha said this was the highest internet traffic recorded in Nepal.
Internet traffic soared abruptly as the match kicked off and climbed down when the match ended. ‘We witnessed the trend of internet traffic peaking during matches and climbing down when they concluded and then again it towered,’ he elaborated, ‘this also resulted in the highest internet traffic on the Internet in Nepal.’
Also check: How Much Data Do You Need To Stream A Football Match?
Normally, Nepal’s internal traffic clocks around 12 Gbps. Lately, the number has jumped to an average of 15 Gbps. Shrestha also added, ‘During the 2018 World Cup, Nepal’s internet traffic hit 32 Gbps. This was the previous highest internet consumption record. Nepal’s internet sees a huge surge in bandwidth consumption during international football competitions.
Local Hosting Returns Benefits
Nepali Internet Service Providers have begun hosting major events such as Euro locally. This has contributed to increased internet traffic. Meanwhile, It also draws economic benefits to the country. Due to content hosting inside Nepal, the expenses for international bandwidth is contained. As a result, the outbound cash flow goes to saving. Shrestha also told that ISPs have begun hosting popular content by setting up an internal cache server in Nepal. Read: How to watch Nepali TV channels online?
On the other hand, the emergence of the Over The Top (OTT) has also led to a high volume of internet consumption. Presently, Nepali consumers can enjoy their TV content on the go on DishHome Go, NetTv, Via TV, Prabhu TV apps, etc. The convenience of watching their favorite content on a portable device has gradually increased bandwidth consumption in Nepal.
In addition to streaming on official TV apps, Nepali football fans also watch games on Facebook, the web, and third-party apps. Post games, they view match highlights, news, and other details on smartphones and PCs online. Add to that, they share key details of matches on social media networks when they are awake. All these have collectively played their part in inflated bandwidth traffic.
Nepal Internet Exchange (NPIX) derives its stats from the data it receives from member entities. Currently, it has about 4 dozen members including telecom operators, ICT-related agencies, hosting service providers, etc.
Are you also following Euro and Copa America closely? How have been your own internet consumption during these competitions? Let us know in the comments.
