Eden Hazard. Photo: Ben Sutherland.

Optus has finally announced its plans for the 2016-2017 English Premier League season after it beat Foxtel for the exclusive right to broadcast the competition in Australia.

The company said in a statement this morning that broadcasts would be available to new and existing postpaid mobile, mobile broadband and home broadband customers. Packages would cost from $15 per month, but people with Optus plans which cost them $85 per month or more would be able to watch the EPL for free.

In effect, it means only Optus customers will be able to watch their choice of Premier League games, which will be available through a mobile, a tablet or a television connected to a Fetch TV box.

The changes have been met with anger on social media.

.@Optus did Arsene Wenger come up with your EPL coverage? Coz you’ve bottled it. Thanks for ruining it for most Australians. #UnAustralian

— Motters (@mottersjames) May 4, 2016

BREAKING: Sunderland, Newcastle fans in Australia praying their club gets relegated from EPL so they don’t have to deal with @optus.

— Athas Zafiris (@ArtSapphire) May 4, 2016

Optus announced last week that ts coverage would include a dedicated non-stop EPL channel, similar to Foxtel’s Fox Footy channel. All matches would be televised live, the company said.

Streaming of games on mobile and tablet will not be metered on most Optus postpaid data plans.

Existing Optus customers will be able to check if they’re on an EPL-eligible plan when pre-orders open on May 15.

The 2016-2017 Premier League season is due to start on August 13, with Leicester City crowned champions for 2015-16 yesterday.