Telstra, Foxtel seal deal for 4K cricket coverage
Details
Rebecca Hawkes
| 20 December 2018

Australian telco Telstra has signed a multi million dollar six-year deal with pay-TV operator Foxtel to provide back-end technology for its new 4K channel.

Launched in October by Foxtel, the channel is delivering summer cricket in ultra HD, after securing the rights in a joint deal with Seven West Media. All men’s international matches and selected Big Bash League matches will be aired on the dedicated 4K channel.

Telstra, which owns 30% of Foxtel in a joint venture with News Corp, is supporting the live coverage through a digital video network, satellite trucks, teleports and a broadcast operations centre, with up to 100Gbps worth of capacity through the network at 31 sports venues across Australia.

“We’re excited to see where our 4K capability will take the future of broadcast and look forward to providing our comprehensive suite of broadcast services to customers around the world,” said Trevor Boal, head of Telstra Broadcast Services.

Telstra also provided the broadcast capacity to deliver 4K coverage of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) competition in Singapore earlier in 2018.

Foxtel viewers will be able to watch the 4K cricket coverage using operator’s new iQ4 set-top box, as long as they have a compatible 4K TV and subscribe to Foxtel’s Sport and HD packages.