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Socceroo fans have lambasted Australian media and telecoms firm Optus, for its shambolic handling of World Cup Russia 2018’s opening weekend.
The SingTel subsidiary which has secured the rights to broadcast/stream all Russia 2018 matches has come under fire, as its digital platform Optus Yes could not handle the weekend demand for World Cup matches.
Optus broadcast issues begun as Australia opened its Russia 2018 campaign, losing 2-1 to France, in a controversial match which featured the first World Cup penalty awarded via FIFA’s new VAR system.
However, Optus’ broadcast was so dire that Socceroo fans have labelled its digital platform as the country’s most hated technology following this weekend’s events.
A disastrous weekend of World Cup buffering, even led to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnball intervening and demanding that Optus’ leadership explain its broadcast difficulties.
I have spoken with the Optus CEO, Allen Lew. He assures me he is giving the World Cup streaming problems his personal attention and he believes it will be fixed this evening.
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) June 18, 2018
Following its calamitous weekend, Optus management announced on Monday that it would be simulcasting its FIFA World Cup content with Australian legacy broadcaster SBS for the next 48 hours.
Optus Chief Executive Allen Law stated that he was confident that his firm would be able to fix the streaming issues and meet audiences demand for Russia 2018 content.
However, Australian MPs have urged that media regulators to remove Optus as lead Russia 2018 broadcaster, stating that the telecoms firm had severely underestimated its capacity to stream a FIFA World Cup event.
Launched in 2016, Optus Yes seeks to become the leading digital sports platform provider for the Australian sports, and has secured broadcast rights with the English Premier League, however can the telecoms and media overcome its expensive World Cup debacle…
