At 6:07 pm on Thursday, May 8, 2025, the world witnessed the long-awaited white smoke rising from the Vatican. A symbolic and highly media-driven event, it once again had an immediate effect on digital infrastructure. In particular, we recorded a significant spike in traffic precisely at the time of the announcement, as shown in the graph below.
The sudden surge coincides with the moment the news broke across news platforms, social media, and streaming services. Notably, the event was also broadcast on RaiPlay and distributed through Namex by the CDNs that handle RaiPlay’s content delivery. Later in the evening, a second, even more pronounced spike occurred. This was partly driven by the usual entertainment services hosted on the Namex infrastructure, such as Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video, and partly by users’ sustained interest in following updates and in-depth coverage of the event.
Much has been said over the past two years about the football revolution and the impact it has had on networks. Traffic peaks at IXPs have been largely driven by this. The following figure attempts to illustrate major sporting events and their impact on the significant amount of traffic generated.
Once again, globally significant events demonstrate how the internet mirrors our times, responding in real time to moments that capture the collective attention. Namex reaffirms its role as a crucial hub in Italy’s digital ecosystem, ensuring stability and capacity even during peak usage.
— By Flavio Luciani, Namex CTO
