By James Chessell
FOXTEL is hopeful a new deal with Optus will end two years of frustration and provide the telco with an incentives to sign up subscribers.
Foxtel and Optus yesterday announced a new deal that will enable the telco to offer Foxtel packages beyond its 1.4 million cable network customers under a non-exclusive satellite agency agreement.
Both sides have been frustrated by the previous deal signed in 2002. Optus stopped marketing pay TV to its customers in 2007 in a move that crimped Foxtel’s growth in the past financial year as the number of Optus subscribers dropped from 124,000 to 92,000.
Executives from both sides were reluctant to discuss the nature of the incentives given to Optus but believe the new deal will be more productive.
“We are happy to renew these arrangements in a way that works mutually well for both companies. Clearly we have high expectations that we will see the decline that has been experienced in the past halted,” Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams told The Australian.
“We’re expecting to see a solid number of customers. The agreement is well geared to encouraging growth.”
The satellite agreement will allow Optus to bundle Foxtel channels with telecommunications services in some areas where it doesn’t have cable. Optus could not say how many customers this would cover.
The new deal will also give Optus cable customers access to Foxtel’s 20 high-definition channels and HD iQ boxes for the first time. Optus is in negotiations with the federal government over potentially selling its HFC cable network to the National Broadband Network.
Source: www.theaustralian.com.au
