Telstra unveils AFL pricing planLucy Battersby
The Age
February 13, 2012 - 4:32PMTelstra has launched its battle to attract AFL fans with a new $50 season pass for all games live on its mobile network.
A new "AFL Live mobile site" and "AFL Live Official App" will give Telstra customers access to 90 hours of free games every week for the whole season, or $10 per month or $5 per game.
The push comes as rival Optus takes advantage of a court decision allowing its mobile customers to record and watch the AFL games screened on free-to-air television, in some cases in near-live conditions.
Telstra has an exclusive deal with the AFL to screen matches live over the internet. However Optus recently won a court case allowing its customers to record television and replay it over the internet to fixed and mobile devices, on delays of about 90 seconds for iPhones and iPads, using a service called TV Now.
Optus charges $10 per month for 20 hours of recording storage, equivalent to about four matches per month unless matches are deleted after viewing.
The Australian Football League, National Rugby League and Telstra lodged an appeal against that decision last Friday.
Telstra's AFL Live Official App is free to download and will include live score updates, radio broadcasts of the games, team lists and player profiles, match previews and post-game reviews all free and unmetered for Next G and 4G customers, a Telstra spokeswoman said.
Telstra does not count AFL live streaming towards data-limits and Optus does not count TV Now streaming towards data-limits.
Telstra's fixed-line BigPond customers can also stream every match live for $50 per month using a "Foxtel on T-Box" product.
Foxtel also started marketing its new AFL product today. Foxtel won greater rights for the 2012-2016 season that it has held before, with all games live and no advertising between sirens.
http://www.theage.com.au/business/telstra-unveils-afl-pricing-plan-20120213-1t1mn.html#ixzz1mEzCqLS4
