Scottish Business News has highlighted new analysis from Hyperoptic showing how Scotland’s late‑night World Cup fixtures against Morocco and Brazil shifted the usual pattern of evening broadband demand. According to the report, Hyperoptic’s network data showed traffic staying higher for longer as fans followed the matches from home, rather than tailing off towards the end of the evening as it would on a typical night.scottishbusinessnews
During Scotland’s group‑stage game against Brazil on 24 June, traffic on Hyperoptic’s network stayed elevated for around three hours, from roughly 8pm to past 11pm, with demand peaking at more than double the provider’s early‑evening baseline. The Moroccan fixture on 19 June showed a similar pattern, with traffic still sitting at 75% at 11pm, compared with the 58–61% of the 9pm peak that Hyperoptic would normally expect by that time.fifa+1
Speaking to High Growth Scotland, Hyperoptic set out how it links Scotland’s fixtures to changes in broadband demand, explaining that it uses aggregated network monitoring across its UK broadband footprint rather than customer‑level viewing data. The company’s figures capture total traffic across its broadband network during match windows and are matched to kick‑off times and the usual evening curve to identify when late‑night fixtures change behaviour.telecompaper
Hyperoptic’s consumer research, also cited by Scottish Business News, found that during major live sporting events at home an average of 2.7 internet‑connected devices are usually in use in the household at the same time, meaning the match is only one part of what the connection is supporting. For Scotland’s broadband providers, the extended match‑night peaks and multi‑device usage seen during the Morocco and Brazil games offer a useful read‑across for future major events involving Scottish fans, even though the national team has now exited the tournament.
