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April 26, 2021

The royal wedding may grind your office to a halt

While you may not be sick of royal wedding coverage just yet … okay, you’re probably sick of royal wedding coverage.

439528_westminster_abbey_3 But what can we say? Whether we dig the romance or not, Prince William and Kate Middleton’s union may just be the most talked-about event of this decade when the 2010s are through.

And while there are plenty of business links to the wedding – the U.K. was granted an extra three-day weekend for the ceremony, for instance, a move that may cost the British economy a reported $9.9 million in lost productivity – here’s one that hits closer to home: this Friday, Kate Middleton may grind your office to a halt.

That’s what Andrew Rubin, CEO of network optimization firm Cymtec, is warning the world’s workplaces, and he’s not just talking about employees huddled around the office TV.

With news that major Internet players like YouTube and MSN will live stream the wedding online, chances are your office bandwidth will suffer as if March Madness, the Obama inauguration and ten Super Bowls are happening at once. Remember: two billion people are expected to watch this thing, according to the CBC, and while the bulk of that figure will catch the wedding on TV, an estimated 400 million will watch online – a large portion of which, Rubin says, will be employees tuning in on their work computers.

It’ll be a “nightmare for companies that rely on the Internet,” Rubin tells the Financial Post. “The sheer volume of people watching this at work, steaming it live at their desk, is going to be staggering.”

For the record, much of Canada will still be in bed or the Tim Hortons drive-thru by the time Will and Kate exchange their vows (the wedding begins at 10 a.m. London time), but with the promise of multiple re-airs, the ceremony and subsequent procession should still cause a formidable amount of web traffic.

If Rubin has his way, he details in a lengthy press release, companies will prepare for such a bandwidth blitz.

His best idea? Plan a viewing party at your office: “The strain on the corporate network will be tremendous if people stream the footage … To avoid this, set up one computer and projector in a big conference room to stream the event for the group.”

Will you keep up with royal wedding coverage at your office on Friday?

By Jason Buckland, MSN Money

*Follow Jason on Twitter here.

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Gordon PowersGordon Powers

A long-time fund company executive, Gordon Powers now heads up the Affinity Group, a financial services consulting firm. Gordon was a personal finance columnist for the Globe & Mail for many years, has taught retirement planning...

Jason BucklandJason Buckland

The modern-day MC Hammer of money, Jason can often be seen spending cash that isn’t his with the efficiency of a Wilt Chamberlain first date. After cutting his teeth as a reporter for the Toronto Sun, he joined the MSN Money team with...