Optus offers World Cup watchers Fetch TV boxes to make up for streaming fiasco

If you're one of the many Australians who signed up to the Optus Sport service in order to watch the 2018 FIFA World Cup, it's highly likely that you've experienced a number of streaming issues during the event's opening nights.

Having already received numerous complaints from disgruntled soccer fans, Optus has extended an olive branch to its customers, announcing that it will provide a free Fetch TV Mini set-top box for 12 months to every Optus Sport Premium subscriber who's had streaming performance issues between June 14 and June 18.

The offer is available to anyone who's signed up for the Optus Sport Premium service, regardless of their broadband or mobile provider — all you have to do is go to your nearest Optus store, allow the staff to verify your Optus Sport email address, and you should be able to walk out with a new Fetch TV Mini.

The Fetch TV Mini box (valued at $168) provides access to a number of services and channel packs, including a dedicated Optus Sport channel which will hopefully allow users to stream each game properly from here on out.

Okay, so what's the catch?

There are some catches (and hurdles), though — the free Fetch TV Mini offer is only available until close of business on Friday, June 22, meaning you'll need to get in to your local Optus store quick if you want to secure one.

If you choose to keep the Fetch TV Mini box after the initial 12-month period is finished, it'll cost you $20 a month to keep the service active (thankfully, there are no cancellation fees involved).

It's worth noting that some users reported issues when they first tried to obtain a unit on Monday, stating that Optus store staff were unable to validate subscriber email addresses. However, an Optus representative has assured TechRadar that these issues have now been resolved.