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Optus denies plans to change name to Yes

optus yesOptus has said it has no plans to change its name to Yes after reports claimed it has been testing the proposition with focus groups.

While Yes has been the strapline for the telco for the past decade, Fairfax Media has claimed the telco has conducted market research into changing its name to Yes which showed positive sentiment towards the move from the public.

But this morning Optus told Mumbrella it has “no plans” to change its name, after trademarking a number of properties including Yes TV, Yes Crowd and WiFi Talk Yes.

According to the report the telco is also readying a “massive” marketing push which will centre on its recently-acquired English Premier League rights, as it looks to increase sign-ups to its broadband services.

The company paid $63m for the football rights for the next three years in a surprise move at the end of last year, and it also holds rights to all Cricket Australia’s highlights and mobile streaming coverage.

While the company has yet to reveal how it will screen the games, reports yesterday suggested Optus has walked away from negotiations with Fox Sports to have matches beamed into pubs and clubs, and will instead launch a stand-alone app and Fetch TV offering.

Last week it launched a sign-up page for people interested in receiving information on the new offering, and it has also recently launched a new content series and TV ads starring sprinter Usain Bolt highlighting its network speed.

optus EPL sign up page

According to the Fairfax report the company is also eyeing the launch of a news and sports highlights app similar to the News Loop offering from parent company Singtel.

Alex Hayes

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