SYDNEY, June 21 (Xinhua) -- The Australian public broadcaster, which stepped in to air the Russia World Cup soccer matches for two days earlier in the week following technical glitches by online streaming provider Optus, says it will continue to offer the free service as part of an extension to the end of the month.
The partially government-funded Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) said in a statement that following "further discussions with Optus... it has been mutually agreed that SBS will continue simulcasting the 2018 FIFA World Cup until the end of Group Stage" on June 29.
The group matches were supposed to be streamed online through telcom giant Optus, but audiences were hit with playback and buffering problems plaguing a sport app and leaving subscribers who paid for the service unable to access it. A deal was later made to have SBS air all the soccer matches for free on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Optus has also said it will offer its sport streaming service for free until August 31 and offer a refund for its World Cup subscriptions.