Doubts have been cast on the ability of Optus to iron out its glitches before the knockout stages of the World Cup – with one expert claiming it will be two months before they are resolved.
The telco handed over all World Cup group matches to SBS on Wednesday, after it was unable to ensure it could fix the issues that have plagued its coverage so far.
The public broadcaster will show matches until June 29 but when it gets to the last 16 of the tournament, SBS does not have the rights to show all games.
Australia’s match with Denmark was shown on public broadcaster SBS after Optus Sport’s problems with streaming
Optus chief executive Allen Lew (pictured) apologised ‘unreservedly to all Australians’ on Sunday
Viewers who had paid Optus to watch the World Cup were forced to endure glitches, buffering issues and having games interrupted with black screens reading ‘playback error
Optus is set to have two games per day, and SBS just one and the telco’s chief executive Allan Lew claimed the company was now in a position to show matches without problems, news.com.au reported.
‘SBS and Optus haven’t made a decision as to who will carry which match,’ Mr Lew said.
‘So as we complete the group stages, at some point of time as we approach the knockout stages, a proper announcement will be made.
‘We have learned very import lesson from last weekend. If we do take it exclusively we will make sure that we will provide a good experience for all Australians.’
Tech broadcaster Trevor Long poured scorn on the claim by Optus that it has delivered matches without issues
He also said it was unlikely that the problems would be sorted by the beginning of the knockout stages
Mr Lew went on to claim that Optus delivered games on Monday and Tuesday night ‘without issue’ adding: ‘Yes we stumbled on Sunday, but we learned a very important lesson.’
But tech broadcaster Trevor Long cast doubt on the Optus claim that it would have all of the bugs sorted by the end of the group.
‘And to think it will all be AOK even with just one game a night in the Round of 16 is utter madness.
‘Their core infrastructure design is flawed, they might get it right by the EPL – but not this World Cup.’
As a further act of goodwill, the telco also made Optus Sports available to all Australians for free.
It will reimburse those who already paid for the remainder of the tournament and then some, with the offer ending August 31.
Earlier in the week, on Sunday, Lew apologised ‘unreservedly to all Australians’ on Sunday, but there were further issues later that night.
‘There’s no doubt this has adversely affected the Optus brand … everybody is very disappointed, to put it mildly,’ an apologetic Mr Lew said.
Optus bought the rights to broadcast the tournament for a reported $8million.