Singtel customers are understandably upset by the fact that they can’t watch the UEFA Champion League matches anymore and are making their grievances heard. Postings on the Singtel Facebook page have not been friendly – mostly upset subscribers demanding that Singtel be transparent about the status of their broadcasting rights.
The strong reaction is not surprising considering that this football crazed nation is missing out on one of the biggest leagues in the world.
According to a reply on one of these posts, Singtel said that the three previous seasons of EUDA Champions League were aired on the Eurosport channel but since then, a new content provider has won the broadcasting rights for the upcoming three seasons of both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. They said they’re still negotiating for the rights with the new content provider but it has so far been inconclusive.
Based on the MDA’s Media Market Conduct (MMCC), customers can terminate their contract with a service provider, in this case Singtel, without early termination charges is unilateral changes are made by the provider that are detrimental to subscribers. This can include removal of material content within a channel.
Of course, many Singtel customers are asking that exact question: “Can we terminate contracts without early termination charges since Singtel is not showing football league matches?” One could argue that live sports is considered material content and Singtel’s inability to provide that is cause for contract termination.
Customers are still waiting to hear some sort of confirmation from Singtel either way so that they can make their decision. As of this moment, there still no deal for the champions league and viewers are forced to look for alternative options such as live streaming the matches online.