Optus outrage grows after fresh World Cup blackouts
Fans taken to social media in hordes to vent their anger towards Optus after yet another night of issues around the Telco’s World Cup broadcasting.
On another disastrous night for the Telco giant, supporters have been unable to watch matches at the FIFA World Cup as system crashes and playback errors plague the Optus digital stream.
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The company’s Chief Executive apologised for the problems and insisted that he would personally oversee the situation so it’s quickly resolved.
On Sunday afternoon Optus CEO Allen Lew apologised “unreservedly to all Australians,” blaming “unprecedented demand” for the World Cup blackout.
“We should have done better, we can do better and we will do better,” Lew said.
“Australians can be assured that this has my personal attention, and the entire network team’s attention, and we will solve it.
However, the problems were still evident later on Sunday evening as fans trying to watch Serbia’s opening match against Costa Rica were left in the dark.
Optus tried to provide a work-around for fans on social media after recognising that fans were experiencing technical difficulties.
For those users currently experiencing technical difficulties on Optus Sport, please enter your details into the 2018 FIFA World Cup app to watch the Costa Rica-Serbia game while our tech teams work to fix the problem.
— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) June 17, 2018
The problem initially started on the fist full night of competition in Russia as the demand from fans to see the World Cup proved too much for the Telco giant to handle.
Optus has the full broadcast rights to the World Cup, while sharing a selection of games with traditional free-to-air provider SBS.
The company charges users $15 a month for access to their streaming service with furious fans demanding their money back and insisting on answers to what has quickly become a PR disaster for Optus.
Absolutely disgraceful to make Aussies pay for a service that does not deliver. We are missing precious games from a world cup that’s only every 4 years. Nowhere else in the world would this pathetic service be allowed. #optusout @FFA @heraldsunsport @theagesport @JFDiMaggio
— Daniel Arnavas (@Arnavasd) June 17, 2018
They need to do everyone a favour and allow @SBS to view all remaining games. @OptusSport failed with the #EPL and they’re failing again with the @FIFAWorldCup. No excuses! This game is not to be tampered with.
— Jonathan Di Maggio (@JFDiMaggio) June 17, 2018
@Singtel @SingtelSupport You should be ashamed at the failure of @Optus to deliver the @FIFAWorldCup to the Australian public. Hand it over to @SBS so we can watch the World Game.
— Chris Hay (@MacPhisto72) June 17, 2018
I just created a twitter account so that I could ask for a refund since the team of Optus is better at tweeting rather than taking any actions to fix the playback issues.
— Uno (@Uno49988293) June 17, 2018
Optus encountered similar teething issues in the first year of its broadcast deal with the English Premier League, with the interest in the World Cup on yet another level.
“Regrettably Optus experienced technical issues during the Costa Rica v Serbia match of the FIFA World Cup on Sunday night which affected some customers,” an Optus spokesperson told 7Sport.
“Fortunately, we were able to improve the viewing experience for customers for the remaining two games overnight.
“We apologise to those customers affected and reassure them our team is working around the clock to ensure that we are delivering an excellent broadcast service to all Optus Sport viewers regardless of the platform they are using to enjoy the tournament.
“We know that the majority of customers are having a good broadcast experience during the World Cup.
“Given the individual nature of some customer issues, we are working with customers directly to address their concerns and ensure that we deliver an excellent experience.”