Telecom has joined with Coliseum Sports Media to offer customers access to English Premier League football matches through its broadband network, but the deal is not exclusive.
While Telecom and Coliseum have signed a deal for an undisclosed amount, football fans will still be able to access the matches through any internet provider from the PremierLeaguePass.com.
Coliseum announced last month it had won the EPL broadcasting rights from Sky Network TV.
Telecom retail chief executive Chris Quin said its broadband customers would get a 15% discount on league season passes.
New Telecom broadband customers signing up for the mid-range plans on a 12-month contract could choose a free season pass with access to all 380 live matches and 250 on-demand games available from PremierLeaguePass.com.
Most Telecom customers would be able to access the service through their standard ADSL broadband but Mr Quin expected more people would use the opportunity to upgrade to faster broadband, either through ultrafast broadband (UFB) or VDSL, which Telecom was launching in time for the northern hemisphere season. VDSL offered the highest speeds available on copper.
He told the Otago Daily Times an announcement on where VDSL was available would be made next week, but it was expected to be widely available.
Telecom was also lifting its 50GB-a-month plans to 80GB a month at no additional cost. A 500GB package would be available from $199 a month, depending where in New Zealand subscribers lived.
It was estimated that a standard 90-minute game of football would use about 1.1GB, depending of the quality of the stream available.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Chris Timms said anything Telecom could do to attract more customers was welcome but he questioned how many people would be sufficiently motivated to join Telecom just for the football.
Several of the top EPL clubs already had televised feeds that people in New Zealand could stream live or on demand.
''I'm not passionate about the sport to know if this is a deal maker but it is a natural progression to offer a suite of products to attract and retain customers.''
Telecom shares were down 2c on light volume yesterday to $2.24.
