Australian soccer fans have slammed Optus for its English Premier League packages, pricing and lack of availability to non-Optus customers, after the telco released its pricing plan on Wednesday.
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Last November, Optus bought the rights to air the EPL in Australia and has since onsold one game per week to SBS for the next three years.
But for non-Optus customers, that's where the good news stops.
Fans can watch the Premier League for free - if they are on an Optus plan of more than $85 per month.
They can watch it on television - through a Fetch TV top box that is only available to Optus broadband subscribers.
They can watch it for as little as $15 per month - as long as they already have a postpaid mobile and broadband bundle.
Oh, and not everyone can get Optus broadband at home.
To say the public is unimpressed would be an understatement.
Maybe we should all relax about the EPL deal. An @Optus employee says she's "really excited" by it. What a relief. pic.twitter.com/ZasQcOdyhL— Jacob Kagi (@kagij) May 4, 2016
So the absolute cheapest per month for the #Optus EPL package is $40, and that's on a small screen (tablet or phone). Yeah, no thanks— Matt (@Mattys123) May 4, 2016
Optus with the EPL rights is like a mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows he got it, and danged if he knows how to use it!— Rudi Edsall (@RudiEdsall) May 4, 2016
Congrats to Optus for successfully alienating fans throughout Aus. Had a real competitive advantage with EPL rights, but blew it. #disgrace— Gadi Note (@gadi_note) May 4, 2016
Journalist Paul Smith lamented in the Financial Review the options that Optus is offering the public, saying "the prices and offers available are far from being clear to the average punter".
"Optus hasn't put in any provisions for people who would happily pay them to watch its EPL coverage, without also paying it for another, entirely unrelated product," he wrote.
"Optus may well succeed in hooking plenty of new broadband customers, but for many it will be a shotgun wedding, and they will deeply resent their new spouse.
"This is even before we get to see if the broadband infrastructure can handle the challenge of live streaming, without ruining matches with buffering."
I give it a month before Optus alters their business model re: EPL. It simply cannot work— Matt Bungard (@TheMattBungard) May 4, 2016
The Daily Mail reported that it would be cheaper for Australians to take a trip to the UK and watch an EPL game live than it would to purchase an Optus broadband Premier League bundle.
The report cited figures from consumer group Choice, who said Aussie travellers could even grab a $4 pint of Foster's before the game and still come in under budget.
"With the cheapest Optus broadband bundle that gives you access to next season's EPL costing you $2880 over 24 months, it would much cheaper to fly return to London $1,396, get a return train ticket to Leicester $58.18 and buy a ticket at the ground $85.71," said director of campaigns and communications Matt Levey.
According to the Choice figures, an Australian fan could travel to the UK and back for less than the cheapest option for existing Optus customers wanting to watch the game on a big screen - $1440.
More realistically, it seems likely that Australians will turn to VPNs and unofficial streams to watch the Premier League from next season.
"Telcos need to realise that the days of locking Australians out of the international market for content are over. If they over charge, consumers will seek out more competitive prices overseas," Mr Levey told the Daily Mail.
Meanwhile, Foxtel responded to losing the rights to the EPL by boosting its own soccer coverage, adding beIN Sports to its regular sports pack, which includes Spain's La Liga, Germany's Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A.
Fairfax Media has also revealed that Foxtel is also trying to strike deals with major Premier League clubs, such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, to host the channels that the clubs run themselves.