How the World Cup could hit office productivity and net access

While the biggest football tournament on earth is great news for fans, it may be bad news for business's web access, with match times clashing with working hours and workers using up internet bandwidth to keep up with the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Large numbers of fans "instinctively look to the internet to follow live events," said Chris Stening of Easynet Connect. "As well as using live and catch up services, many workers may also connect [mobile devices] to corporate wi-fi networks in order to follow the football."

All this can lay a considerable strain on company networks, as corporate bandwidth limits are met or exceeded, slowing down internet access across the business.

The first match between South Africa and Mexico starts at 4pm local time (UTC +2) on Friday, June 11, and from then on there are games every day at 1.30pm, 4pm and 8pm until the group stages end on June 21.

After that, the earliest kick-off time is dropped, and from July 6 onwards only the late kick-off remains and rest days are introduced.

Central European countries are in the same timezone as South Africa, so productivity and bandwith usage there is most likely to be affected in the afternoon.

Timezone differences in the Americas mean that those same start times hit New York at 7:30am, 10am, and 1:30pm EDT and much of South America an hour before.

The USA's west coast is a further 3 hours behind, so while workplaces are spared the immediate distraction, there could be more than a few blurry eyes around the office after a big match that morning, and a number of employees seeking early lunches especially towards the tournament's climax.

Fans in Asia are the most likely to be taking cat-naps throughout the day, as those kick-offs are at 8:30pm, 11pm, and 3:30am Japanese Standard Time.

In addition to reviewing network infrastructure in advance of the World Cup, Mr Stening recommends adopting a flexible approach to productivity management during this time.

That could be by using technology to prioritize certain types of internet use, allowing employees to structure their work around big matches, or even by treating them to an office television or radio with which to follow the event.