As Australian streaming providers of World Cup 2018 scramble to deal with technical issues, football fans seek for alternative sources, with for instance the number of subscriptions of virtual network service (VPN) Surfshark rising by 600% since the start of the event.

Founded only this year, Surfshark offers a service which enables users to select legal streaming services from any place in the world, and watch football as if they are in, for instance, the UK.

FIFA has granted rights to stream World Cup 2018 matches to about a hundred providers located in 80 countries. While many of them offer paid services, there are a good few which provide free streaming, Surfshark said.

The VPN provider said that upon the start of World Cup demand for their service in Australia has exceeded every expectation.

“We have experienced an overwhelming increase in the number of Surfshark subscriptions from Australia. In fact, on June 14, our sales in the continent increased by more than 600%, and it’s still on the high tide,” said Surfshark Head of Communications Paavo Aalto.

He added that during live chats most of the users from Australia had been asking where to find stable live streams, and whether they would be able to watch in HD.

“This time is exceptional because most of the new users already know what VPN is and are more interested in finding a stable match stream,” said Aalto. “This increase in demand shows how useful VPN technology is, and especially in times of great need, such as football.”