[1] It was founded to handle residential cable television and local telephony, while its parent concentrated on corporate, long-distance, satellite and interstate communications.

Optus's main competition, especially in the metropolitan areas, was Foxtel, a joint venture between Telstra and News Corporation.

[4] On 14 February 2016, Singtel-Optus renewed their contract with Astro-Fetch TV in preparation for the 2016/17 EPL season.

Optus, along with Austar had a joint venture in the use of Satellite broadcasting for the delivery of Subscription Television.

Optus utilised this joint venture to initially trial and subsequently offer a basic satellite service, named VIP.

It was also offered to Norfolk Island and some smart cards were enabled for some residents (who had the required satellite receiving equipment) to take part in a trial of the service.

After Optus axed the "VIP" Service, it also sold its share in the joint venture to Austar.

In March 2002, the commencement of the new AFL broadcasting deal with Foxtel led Optus and Austar to drop C7 Sport from their services, leading to the demise of the channel.

By contrast, the Foxtel Digital system at the time relied on a telephone connection for the return path.

The advantage of this system is that it is platform neutral, meaning that the same telephone-based return path can be used for both cable and satellite installations.

Featured content broadcast on multiple channels with staggered start times available at frequent intervals.

Other potential features of Optus iTV included e-mail and walled garden Internet access.