Abu Dhabi: With less than 48 hours to go before the Cricket World Cup kicks off in England on Thursday, fans in the UAE are still in the dark about the subscription charges and how to watch the matches live on television.
Customer care executives of both Etisalat and du said they are still negotiating with OSN for the telecast of matches.
“A message will pop up on your screen on subscription rate and other details once we get confirmation from OSN on the telecast of the matches. We are still coordinating with our partners,” a customer care executive from Etisalat told Gulf News. There was no official comment from Etisalat though on this while du customer care executives said they are still working with OSN.
Warm-up matches have already started but cricket fans in the UAE are yet to watch matches live and were left checking scores online on various websites.
A source at OSN, which has won the broadcasting rights for the showpiece in the Middle East region, said Etisalat and du are still working on the details but OSN is already selling World Cup package for people with OSN receivers.
Existing OSN customer can buy add on package for Dh199 ($54) for the entire six weeks and matches will be available on two channels for anyone who bought the package. New customers can buy any basic package of OSN and can add on the new package for Dh199. However, people can also watch World Cup matches live through Wavo app for the same price.
“Wavo is an online platform and people can download it on smart TV or mobile phone to watch matches live for Dh199,” said the source.
There will be 48 matches between top cricketing nations in the World Cup from May 30 to July 14. South Africa will play England in the opener at The Oval on Thursday.