Telstra's AFL app has pre-season jitters

The launch of Telstra's Australian Football League (AFL) live match broadcasting app has had some issues over subscription purchases and match broadcasts, but the telco has said that it is sorting out the problems for the next update.

The app, which launched earlier this year, provides, among other features, live video streaming of AFL matches for between AU$14.99 per 12 months and AU$89.99 per 12 months.

The service is open to not only Telstra customers, but also the customers of Vodafone and Optus; however, only with Telstra does the data used in watching broadcast not count towards a customer's monthly data allowance.

But customers have reported difficulty restoring a subscription across from the pre-season subscription to the premiership subscription when the app was updated. A Telstra spokesperson has said that the company was fixing this issue.

"We know some customers may have had difficulty restoring their subscription from the NAB Cup App for the pre-season competition to the Premiership App for the home-and-away season. Customers will find this process easier when the next update is released next week," he said.

The spokesperson also confirmed that Telstra had also had an issue with the live broadcast of one match during the opening round of the season.

"We note that in the opening round of the home-and-away season, we experienced some live streaming difficulties early in the match between Adelaide and Essendon. This was an isolated, one-off incident that related to human error and has been fixed," the spokepserson said.

Telstra said that subscriptions to the service this season have been strong, and any customers with issues can submit feedback through the app.

Telstra launched the app shortly after winning a major copyright case against Optus and its TV app, TV Now. Telstra, the National Rugby League (NRL), and the AFL last year teamed up against Optus in a court case over the app, with the case centring on the function of the app that would allow iPhone users to watch recorded broadcasts within 2 minutes of those broadcasts going to air.

The NRL successfully argued that the app was in breach of its copyright, and Optus has subsequently ceased offering TV Now.