Optus about to unveil EPL offering

Telco Optus will launch its EPL app and 24/7 sports channel on July 4 after slashing prices for subscribers earlier this month.

Sports fans will get their first look at Optus's highly anticipated English Premier League offering next month.

The telco will launch its EPL app and 24/7 sports channel on July 4, offering live and on demand match coverage, football-related programs and other news.

Archived matches will be available from July 4, with the first live matches to be broadcast when the International Champions Cup kicks off on July 22.

The new EPL season begins on August 13.

Optus is investing heavily in sport and music as it aims to protect and grow its mobile, broadband and television customer base.

It secured the exclusive digital and broadcast rights to the EPL in Australia in November, shocking rivals and sports fans with a $189 million bid.

The Optus EPL app has been designed to be easy and simple to use following consultation with the EPL and fans, Paul Rybicki, the telco's head of TV, mobile video and content, said.

"They were very clear, just give me the least amount of clicks to get to my game," he told AAP.

"So we've designed it so it's literally one click to live."

The app will also allow fans watching one match to have another displayed in the corner of their screen, Mr Rybicki said.

Users will also be able to easily re-live match highlights, with footballs and red and yellow cards appearing in the match timeline when goals are scored and cards issued, he said.

Earlier this month, Optus slashed the prices for access to the upcoming EPL season after a public backlash.

Customers who sign up with the telco's selected mobile and broadband plans and subscribe to the EPL by July 31 will get access to the 2016/17 season if they spend a minimum of $30 a month.

That's a major reduction from its original pricing announcement on May 4, when Optus said customers would get the EPL if they spent at least $85 a month.

From August 1, Optus customers on eligible plans valued at less than $85 a month will have to pay $15 a month to subscribe to the EPL.

Optus is also working on selling its EPL offering to pubs and clubs, recently locking in the Newmarket Hotel in Mascot, Mr Rybicki said.

Pay TV group Foxtel held the local EPL broadcast rights for the past 18 seasons, and has since struck a deal with beIN Sports Australia to offer its subscribers coverage of other European football leagues.


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Source: AAP



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