Optus to offer free live streaming of World Cup on mobile

doesn’t seem to work on the ipad though 🙁

“all video content including the 500 FIFA archive clips is part of the $6.99 per month premium package”

What premium package? I thought the video was free (to Optus customers).

I’ve had a play around with this, and annoyingly you have ensure you aren’t on a wifi network to access the site. I’d also like to know if the video download is free as far as mobile usage goes, I haven’t been able to work that out yet.

I believe the live streaming is free (ie, at 4am whilst lying in your bed!) – but the highlights and analysis are part of the premium package…

Really, watching the footy on your phone in bed is better than going downstairs to watch it on the plasma with the heater on? Good luck convincing your missus on that one. I thought sport-streaming was designed for commuters or if you’re out somewhere – not many people commuting at 4am on a Monday.

I haven’t bothered signing up for this as the details as to what we will get as part of the $6 seemed sketchy at best.

If I can’t get decent reception on Optus (their patchy network quality is well documented on Whirlpool) then how am I going to get an uninterrupted streaming video on my iPhone? Pleeeeze, enough with the marketing smoke and mirrors.

SBS is free, just watch it on telly.

If you can’t watch it live at home, well then you have more important things to look at like why aren’t you at home on your couch? What have you done wrong in your life to not be at the pub watching a socceroos match with your closest friends? Hmmmm?

If you have to work, or be in a meeting, well you should have thought about that and taken holidays!

If it’s Optus, you would want to check the fine print in the offer – preferably with a lawyer!
They make more offers and promises then break them than Kevin Rudd.

Our (Virgin Mobile Aus)’s good friends at Optus have extended their FREE live streaming of 2010 FIFA World CupTM matches to our Virgin Mobile Members to enjoy too!
GOAL!!!!

Awesome news for our Members with 3G mobile phones. =)
Given that this is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, this is pretty much some of the most exciting news here at VMA!
GOAL!!

The Cup kick off is on the 11th June 2010 & we’ll be letting Virgin Mobile Members know more details about the offer as we get closer to the start of the World Cup, directly.

:: Post-Paid & Pre-Paid Mobile Members only. T&Cs will apply.

=),
Kevin JD,
Virgin Mobile Australia.

Given that I’m on Virgin (Optus if you like) and can only occasionally get enough coverage to do such extravagant things such as ‘send a text message’ or ‘check my emails’ in the CBD, then I won’t rely on this to watch the World Cup.

Particular black spots seem to be in the wilderness that is ‘College Street and Park Street’ and ‘Broadway’. Every day without fail, signal drops out in these areas, even though it says full signal.

I’ve travelled a fair bit around the world and never seen a network as shoddy as Optus’s in my opinion.

Hey Tim,

Here’s a link for all us nUmBRELLAns:
http://www.virginmobile.com.au/football

=),
Kevin JD,
Virgin Mobile Australia.

Harley, Dex – the live streaming of all 2010 FIFA™ World Cup matches is free to all Optus mobile customers with a compatible 3G phone. The Super Sports Pack ($6.99 per month) gets you lots of other premium content covering the whole FIFA™ World Cup journey. Head to http://optusfootball.com.au/mo.....ports_pack for more information on what’s included in the Super Sports Pack.

Can I just say how rubbish it is that the main page of http://www.optusfootball.com.au doesn’t work on the iPhone?

It also seems there no way to watch an entire match after it’s over, is that correct? If so I know it wouldn’t be Optus’ choice, but it’s still frustrating.

I think Optus is offering FREE live streaming..
Just try to go to OptusMobileTV and check the freeZone section there is a link to Optus World cup site.

Hey Harley – while you can’t watch an entire match after it’s over, $6.99 does get you lots of additional video content, including match highlights.

Sam – there’s an easy way to access the site from your phone (or iPhone) – simply SMS “World Cup” to 966 and you’ll get a reply with a link to the FIFA™ World Cup mobile homepage.

Hurry up virgin mobile and tell us how to access this site please. It starts on Friday it’s Now Wednesday night.

Virgin Mobile World Cup access:
http://www.virginmobile.com.au/football

Hey Paul,

For you, a link! : virginmobile.com.au/football

=)

Enjoy!
Kevin JD,
Virgin Mobile Australia.

Optus are a joke- the only reason they’re offering it for free- is because it probably wont work.

You cant even make calls half the time on 3G- let alone stream good quality video! They’re kidding themselves.

And to this corporate puppet Scott Drummond- Mumbrella isn’t a late night TVC, why not just post the iPhone web link instead of trying out your latest call to action??

All due respect Tim- I barely call this a transparent response when someone asks for the link-

“Simply SMS “World Cup” to 966 and you’ll get a reply with a link to the FIFA™ World Cup mobile homepage.”

He sounds like he’s reciting the call to action script from one of their TVC scripts. He’s even put the TM sign in there for god’s sake.

I didnt know good social media was responding by copying and pasting from a flowchart. Obviously it is!

Anon,

My response to Sam added clarity to his comment for all our customers, and as he didn’t ask for the web link, I felt that instructions to send a free SMS were easier for our customers than typing out a link into a phone browser.

But for anyone that would like the link, here it is:

http://optuszero.miaccess.com/wc2010/?e=527

As for the trademark symbol, it’s not a case of copy-and-paste, but a requirement of our contract to refer to the tournament in that way.

Cheers,

Scott Drummond
Online Community Manager & Corporate Puppet, Optus

Thanks for clarifying that Scott.

Good luck with the site, and I hope your network can handle it.

Can we all have a hug now?

I must say, inspite of my whinging about the network quality, fair play there to Optus/Virgin – it’s a good service, and nicely handled by The Corporate Puppet™ there, I must say. He’s not a network engineer now, so fair do’s.

This kind of thing has been popular in many countries for a while, and is one reason why Man Utd are not selling yet – they are waiting for services like this to become monetized and mainstream, to really increase revenue opportunities. I know in this case it’s free on SBS, but useful to have a way of keeping an eye on it, and as a way in to get people used to trying and watching on their phones.

Just to confirm – will this come out of bandwidth caps on Optus or Virgin? It’s annoying that we can’t use our WiFi to access this – but I can see why.

Just don’t tell too many people or I won’t be able to watch it due to the network 🙂

Hi Gav,

to confirm for you Gav, on Optus the live streaming and the homepage of the FIFA™ World Cup mobile site are free and won’t come out of bandwidth caps.

If you want to see the premium video content you have to subscribe to the Super Sports Pack. If you’re browsing content within the mobile site (except for the homepage) standard browsing charges (as per your mobile plan) apply.

Let me know if you have any other questions Gav.

Cheers,

Scott
Online Community Manager, Optus

Wow it’s like customer support in here – I’ve just texted Virgin (as I’m on there – sorry for not clarifying Scott, but I thought it would be in other Optus customers’ interests too) and they’ve indeed replied.

“Thanks 4 yr interest in the 2010 FIFA World Cup ™. Text us after the 10th of June to receive your free link.”

*slaps forehead*

As for my previous question… (Virgin)
“Will LIVE matches count towards my Mobile Internet data allowance?
No! So you really can watch every game. Sweet, huh?”
Yeah, sweet.

Hey Gav,

In answer to the question – it will not impact your data download limits in any way.
Sweet, h-…. I mean, Awesome!
=)

Texting the number on or after the 11th is key. Enjoy every match!

Kevin JD,
Virgin Mobile Australia.

Hi,

I have been trying to access the site http://optuszero.miaccess.com/wc2010/?e=527 as Scott indicated. But when I get there I get a webpage with a message saying that it’s only for Optus customers. I am on a corporate business Optus account. Is this only for non-business accounts?

I’m with Octa – exactly the same issue – what’s going on?
Thanks.

Ahh-ha. It just started working – thx. Must have needed to register it somewhere…

Hi Octa and Moss – our authentication system periodically refreshes itself and this can mean some customers see this error message. To fix it try either or both of these two solutions:

– check that your wifi connection is switched off and try the link again.
– restart your browser and try the link again.

To answer your other question Octa, the service is available to all Optus customers using compatible 3G mobiles.

Cheers,

Scott Drummond
Online Community Manager, Optus

Thanks Kevin

Hey everyone,

the link we posted above is iPhone specific. If you use this link http://optuszero.miaccess.com/worldcup it will detect your handset and direct you to the appropriately formatted web app.

Cheers,

Scott
Online Community Manager, Optus

Cheers Scott.

I did have WiFi off and restarted the browser a few times before I posted. When I got home I tried it again and it worked. At work the 3G sometimes drops and goes to 2G. I have a feeling that when it drops to 2G it gives me the message that it is only for Optus customers. I do remember seeing the page starting to load and suddenly the page about not being an Optus customer appeared. I now remember seeing that my iPhone dropped to 2G at that point.

Hey ‘My title is awesome’

I’m commenting here on behalf of my employer, so it’s important that the customers whose questions I’m answering know who I am. That way I am accountable for my comments.

Cheers,

Scott
Online Community Manager, Optus

I’m not an Optus customer so I really have only a passing interest in this thread but I just wanted to applaud Scott – and Kevin JD – for their professionalism in joining the conversation and responding to queries directly. Good work guys.

“Can I just say how rubbish it is that the main page of http://www.optusfootball.com.au doesn’t work on the iPhone?”

Harley,
you can blame Jobs for that one;)

He doesn’t allow Flash on iPhones or iPads, and you lose.

@Michael, yeah it’s annoying, but there are pages that work on the iPhone on the Optus Football site (eg. http://optusfootball.com.au/mo.....ports_pack), so why can’t the main just redirect me to something like that?

I’ve now got optus football channel and the Today show, apparently for free on my Optus iPhone. Are there any others?

Cheers
Mick

OK I’ve just found out that these are free on Optus too…. but how do you access them?
* ABC Live
* SBS Live
* Hot Hits
* Project One80

Can I just send a SMS “ABC Live” to 966 ?

Cheers
Mick

I tried the service for a little while last night, and it worked quite well, although I couldn’t help but notice that rather frustratingly it was about a minute behind the play proper. Still, given the difficulty of actually accessing any of the web-based streaming services (I found myself on justin.tv, bouncing from stream to stream as they were progressively shut down by ESPN DMCA claims) and in the absence of a working television in my house, it could well come in handy.

Hi Scott,

I’m attempting to access this feature on my N900 without much success. There’s alot of 503 errors at the moment which I attribute to high usage, but SMS’ing World Cup to 966 resulted in no message coming back to me (tried this in my old 6288 and immediately got a link). So, I’ve tried the miaccess.com link but this redirects to optuszoo.com.au – very content heavy for my 3G connection while on pre-paid!

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Josh

how do u access it?
the website given directs mi to the optus zoo homepage?!?

nvm figured it out..
but it keeps sayin osrie theres been an error :s

LISTEN BRO its technically not free, because you can only use it through 3G hence using your data. They pretty much want you to go over your usage limit so they can charge you ridiculous amounts per kb and rake it.

Hey Mat – it is free even though it is on 3G – it is called zero rating and happens on loads of sites that telcos publish. It doesn’t come out of your data allowance….

umm k it keeps sayin unable to connect when i click on the with live (free) link

Doesn’t seem to work on the n900 , any suggestions!!!!!!!

Does standard browsing charges apply within the Optus 2010 FIFA World Cup™ mobile site mean the additional video content and match highlights?

Hey NIV,

Doesn’t work on mine either. I’m guessing the site thinks the User Agent is a Linux box instead of a phone so because you’re not ‘doing the right thing and viewing the site on your phone’ you get thrown back to the content heavy optuszoo.com.au.

Looks like your options are put your SIM in an old phone or watch SBS 🙂

Cheers,
Josh

So now comment threads are going to turn into customer service ‘conversations’ … fantastic!

Everything under Australia’s marketing, media (and customer service enquiries for Optus customers who want to access a world cup site but are unsure if their mobile model is capable or whether their data plan allows it) umbrella …

If this is ‘social media’ then the term has surely lost all meaning. It’s like a call centre but in public.

I’m out on the road at 4.30am in the morning as I work in transport. Optus’ live streaming of the world cup is awesome! So far it’s worked great for me. And the data it takes from streaming is free also, doesn’t count towards the monthly cap.
Optus are the best! Go the Socceroos!

Scott,
My phone is having the same problem as other comments where it continues to redirect the miaccess page to http://www.optuszoo.com.au which i assume is happening because the site thinks i’m not accessing the site from a mobile. i’m using my own phone I bought, a HTC HD and have tried accessing with Opera and Internet Explorer browsers. This is pretty annoying as I’m missing out on the free feature. As it’s my own phone not bought through Optus I don’t have the Optus Zoo app either to try using that to get to the link. Was wondering if we could download the app somehow and access the site through there or does the Optus Zoo app just have a url link which will just open in my browser and then same problem will happen.
Thanks.

PS. Yes – wifi is turned off.l

I’m more interested to know why Optus chose to put a tiger in an ad about a tournament taking place in Africa.

For all N900 users, it is possible to stream the World Cup in. Just log into the http://optuszero.miaccess.com/worldcup website using a regular browser on a regular computer, find the link for the rstp, and type / copy it into the N900’s Maemo browser. It will trigger off the media player, which in turn will start streaming the game – with around a 14 second delay to what is being broadcasted at the time on SBS.

I see Optus having the opportunity to fix the following things here:
1. Make the “World Cup” to 966 SMS work properly on the N900. I SMS’ed 3 times – each time getting back nothing before giving up. Tried different ways – upper case, lower case – nothing in response!!
2. Remove the browser / phone detection from the miaccess / networkoptus website, as it does not work.
3. Just release the rtsp URL to the public. Let anyone stream from it. At the end of the day, they will convert customers to them, as it is a good image being sent, and it is free for their own customers – Telstra and Vodafone customers need to pay. And seeing how this is the World Cup, it is not unheard of that people upgrade their TVs to watch this event. Why wouldn’t they switch carrier, or at least look at getting a pre-paid account?

HTH…

…Ric

Hi Ric,

Cheers for your suggestion – is the RTSP link in the source code or a visible link?

I had the same issue with the SMS, I tried it with my old 6288 and it came back with a service SMS, that issues a command to the browser to go to the “not iPhone site”. It seems the N900 doesn’t support these service messages out of the box.

Will look into manually inputing the RTSP link tonight though! 🙂

Cheers,
Josh

Josh,

You’ll need to do it while a game is being broadcasted to get the link. Otherwise, the link is not there.

Look at the “WATCH LIVE (FREE)” link here: http://tinyurl.com/2d9xb4d

…Ric

Ric,

I first looked at that URL a few days ago (during a game), I didn’t check out the source code, but it seemed to be doing Javascript, rather than a visible link. I’ll check it out tonight.

Cheers again,
Josh

Josh,

In firefox, just right-click and “Copy Link Location”, then drop the link in notepad or something similar. Then either copy it across to your N900, or type it letter by letter…

If you still get junk instead of a rstp://…. link, then switch javascript off.

…Ric

jezzus what’s wrong with the tele

hmm..what happened to Scott?

I have a HTC HD2 and have been unsuccessfully trying to get the “FREE” settings for streaming TV for the ABC and SBS from Optus tech support.
Cannot get to ‘MyZoo’ to reach the icons. Have found a couple of links for the ABC and SBS but when accessing them thru Optus Internet, they charge like wounded bulls and my credit went from a bonus of $108 to $20 in 5 minutes – so watch it.
http://s2.planetmedianetwork.com/abc/abc.sdp
http://s2.planetmedianetwork.com/sbs/sbs.sdp
Does anybody know how to access the Optus free TV links ……………..?

Hey everyone. A few comments in here so I’ll respond in order with the comment number in parentheses:

——————————————————————-

mat (#46)
As Mark (#47) kindly pointed out, the live streaming does not count against your data allowance and is free.

NIV (#49), Joshua (#51)
ric_man (#58, #60, #62) has been incredibly helpful. Are you still having any problems?

QWERT (#50)
Haven’t forgotten about you QWERT! The match highlights and video content can only be accessed by subscribing to the Super Sports Pack. The pack includes unlimited data access to included video content. Standard browsing charges apply to browse the text-based parts of the mobile site, except the homepage, which is free.

Community Overload Manager (#52)
As Tim says (#54), it’s all about relevance. Where we can help customers with answers to their enquiries we are relevant participants and will continue to be involved.

drg (#55)
We’ll need a few more details to help you out I think. If you’re still having problems please fill in our online form here http://bit.ly/OPTUS and we can look into the details and get back to you asap.

ric_man (#58)
Wow! Thanks for taking the time to share that! I’ve passed your comment on directly to the relevant people in the business and I know they’ll find this sort of in-depth and constructive feedback enormously helpful.

Krebs (#65)
As with drg above we will need to take a closer look at this. Fill in our online form here http://bit.ly/OPTUS and we’ll get back to you asap.

——————————————————————-

Thanks for your patience everyone.

Cheers,

Scott
Online Community Manager, Optus

Hey Scott & Ric,

After getting the link directly I can enter it into the N900, but during my tests two nights ago it was advising no connection to server. Could easily put that down to too many people on it, but otherwise it’s a solid fix. Thanks 🙂

Cheers,
Josh

Hey Josh…

I’ve seen what you’ve described. I find the only way avoid this, is to make a connection about 15 mins before the game, but you are right, it’s annoying to get a “Cannot connect to server” or “Cannot find file” (as seen on my mother’s Nokia 6300).

…Ric

Hi Scott thanks for your reply. Just some info on the HTC HD2.
It is the Live Streaming of TV that is not working for me. When I use a WI-FI service connection and go to the link ‘OPTUS.MIACCESS.COM/MOBILETV’ it transfers me to the TV channel page and from there I CAN watch the “free” channels of the ABC and SBS (don’t know how much the WI-Fi server is beeing charged).
When I try it thru the OPTUS ZOO settings and go to the same page it says the phone is not compatible.
Going thru the OPTUS Internet settings to the same page, it trys to connect to the TV site but nothing happens – the bad thing is, OPTUS charges for connecting/downloading data that does not work. like 420kb in seven seconds = Double looser, no TV and less and less $ credits.
Thanks again

what a lot of bullshit, went on sitehttp://virgin.miaccess.com/worldcup/default.aspx?535, logged in, they r asking $9.95 to get access to it until the finals, they r advertising for free, i just stopped and wondered about the hidden cost?Which r not shown, rather watch it on SBS, then cough up a large amount for downloading it on the 3G mobile, they r not to be trusted?