Broadband Speeds Hit by England World Cup Fever as Fans Flock to Online Broadcast

LONDON, June 24, 2010 - Internet users across the UK are likely to have suffered some sluggish
web browsing on Wednesday afternoon as England fans tuned in to the BBC's
live online broadcast for the crucial World Cup showdown with Slovenia.

Figures released by internet service provider KC suggest that the game
triggered a 31% jump in web traffic, as users watched wherever they could -
which for many people was the workplace - resulting in many business and
consumer broadband ISP connections experiencing high latency during the game
which kicked off at 3pm.

Broadband (top10.com/broadband/) speed became an issue for many
users, such as Daniel from the Wirral who commented on the BBC website:
"We're trying to watch at work and it's so jerky it's unwatchable. Thanks
BBC, between you and ITV HD I've still not seen England score in this
competition. Wonderful!"

According to recent analysis from Top10.com, the UK's most popular
broadband speed test (top10.com/broadband/speedtest/) and broadband
comparison website, web users have to put up with wildly varying broadband
speeds each day.

Top10.com measured over 250,000 speed tests on its website over 90 days
to calculate average speeds at each hour of the day for customers of every
major broadband provider in Britain, helping it identify the speeds reached
at the fastest and slowest times.

The Top10.com (top10.com/) analysis is good news for night owls:
the fastest time of the day for web browsing is 2AM, when the average speed
is 7Mb, while the slowest time is 8PM, where a relatively sluggish 4.73Mb is
achieved on average.

Alex Buttle from Top10.com said: "Broadband is a bit like a motorway -
speeds get slower at peak times because everyone's trying to use it at once.
But the broadband speed you get also depends to some extent on your broadband
provider's policy towards traffic shaping. Some broadband providers actively
"throttle" broadband speed to ensure a consistent broadband experience for
all consumers on their network.

"Some people view traffic shaping or "throttling" as a good thing because
it helps manage demand and discourages heavy users from dominating the
network. But other people, especially those who want to play games or watch
TV online, get annoyed because their service can slow to a crawl.

The World Cup 2010 has already broken several records for internet
traffic.

Findings by Akamai suggest that global web traffic on the first day of
the World Cup exceeded the limit set when Barack Obama won the US
presidential election.

One the first day of the competition, traffic for news sites reached
nearly 12.1 million visitors per minute, compared to 8.5 million visitors per
minute during the night of the US presidential vote.

England play their next World Cup game on Sunday 27 June against Germany
at 3pm.

Notes to Editors:

Top10.com Media Ltd - Top10.com is the UK's most popular comparison site
aimed at the broadband and mobile phone sector with over 1.5 million
consumers using the site every month.

Top10.com is dedicated to providing the best offers to help people get
connected. The award-winning service offers an unrivalled consumer
experience, combining cutting-edge design, innovative tools and exciting new
ways for users to interact. Alongside all the latest deals and offers,
Top10.com includes up-to-date news, independent guides, and expert reviews.

Top10.com Media Ltd is a privately held company headquartered in London,
UK.

    Contact details:
    Alex Buttle
    Marketing Director
    alex@top10.com
    +44(0)203-170-8041

Contact details: Alex Buttle, Marketing Director, alex at top10.com, +44(0)203-170-8041