World Cup could stimulate a surge in UK use of Mobile Phones for Internet Access

The World Cup could prove an interesting time for mobile data, as it has the potential to soar if England do well in the tournament.

This is according to Dr Steve Smith of Coda Research Consultancy, who suggested that people will be keen to let others know their thoughts and experiences of matches.

"With increases in 3G access, 3G mobile phones, and people just becoming more accustomed to using mobile internet, this will lead to increasing World Cup service access," he explained.

Furthermore, people will be using their handsets to check up on the latest scores and access social networking sites, the expert predicted.

There is the potential for a huge event such as the World Cup to increase the usage of mobile video, Dr Smith said, which is somewhat lagging behind in the UK compared to other countries.

Deloitte announced earlier this month that the 2010 World Cup could cause UK mobile and broadband networks to become saturated during midweek daytime games if English fans opt for online viewing.

It also suggested that because World Cup games are time sensitive, this will lead to lead to "substantial peaks of data consumption".