SYDNEY, June 28 (Xinhua) -- The Australian public broadcaster which stepped in to help air World Cup matches last week, after technical glitches hit online streaming provider Optus, said on Thursday that it would extend its free service for the remainder of the tournament.

The partially government-funded Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) said it would "broadcast all remaining matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup live, free and in HD", according to a post on its Twitter account.

Optus will continue to broadcast all remaining games of the World Cup in conjunction with SBS, the telecommunications firm said in a statement.

The move comes after playback and buffering problems hit Optus' services and left many of its subscribers unable to watch the games. A deal was later struck to have SBS air all the matches for free for two days, which was subsequently extended to cover all group stage games.

Optus CEO Allen Lew said "customers have been at the forefront" of its decision to simulcast the World Cup with SBS.?