Australian Telco company Optus appears to have shot itself in the foot in the recent announcement of their English Premier League plans in Australia.

The Australian telecommunications giant, owned by Singapore telco Singtel purchased the rights to broadcast the Premier League in Australia for over $63million a year, back in November. That alone created outrage with many existing Premier League fans no longer able to watch the games on their Foxtel services at seasons end.

The Announcement

It wasn’t until today that Optus announced their plans for the Premier League. To get the EPL, existing Optus customers will have to pay $15 on top of their plans (24 month plans, or broadband customers only) Those with 24 month plans that over $85 will get it for free. Those that don’t want to buy a plan can watch the EPL on Optus’s Fetch TV.

Here’s the deal: EPL will be only an extra $15 per month for Optus customers on selected 24 month postpaid mobile, postpaid mobile broadband and home broadband plans and it will be included on selected plans $85 per month and above. It’s also included in a new month-to-month $85 My Plan Plus SIM Only postpaid mobile plan (available from mid-May 2016).

The Premier League is the most watched Football League in the world.

Sounds Good, Right? Wrong

The big issue people on social media are having with these plans are that there is no option for those not contracted to Optus to watch the Premier League legally in Australia. Well, that’s a lie, you can use Fetch TV but that costs $2000 plus on a 24 month contract so is out of the question for most.

Many media reports in Australia are acknowledging that the deal will anger non-existing Optus fans, but neglect to mention current customers such as myself who are enraged too. I am on a $40 bring you own phone plan with 6gb of data and unlimited text and talk, so you would think I would be able to pay $15 for the Premier League? Wrong!

No, for customers like me on existing plans they have to move over to other plans that offer worse inclusions. In my case I would have to give up 5GB of data a month, International calls and still pay $15 for the Premier League. Crazy.

So at gunpoint, I'm driven to be an @Optus mobile or home broadband customer if I want to see the EPL? Surely not.

— Smoked (@swm0904) May 4, 2016

Optus’s Twitter is going off the hook responding to angry Twitter users on a regular basis, but so far haven’t really offered options that have pleased angry Premier League fans, and with no other option to watch the league in Australia they could be under siege for sometime.

$60 a month to watch the EPL! Just plain pathetic from @Optus ?

— Adam Marsland (@AdamMarsey23) May 4, 2016

‘Yes Optus’, more like ‘No Optus’

Some users are even questioning if Optus’s sales strategy is even legal, the company forcing none users to buy services they may not require to watch the Premier League. Others have argued this is what Foxtel have done for years, but at-least Foxtel didn’t require you to use their Broadband or another service of theirs, and still ends up cheaper than using Optus.

Oh and in-case you didn’t know, iPhone’s haven’t even been listed as supported devices for the EPL services yet too!

I in the past have recommended Optus to my family and friends as the service itself is amazing, the customer support is usually outstanding, and the deals are very generous. Clearly here though is an example of what not to do!

The ironic thing? Optus recently changed their slogan to Yes, but it seems like people wanting to watch the Premier League in Australia could be dealing with a No.