Go plc is to announce pricing and package structures for sport content in the coming weeks, chief executive officer David Kay told The Sunday Times.

Earlier this month, the communications group announced it had clinched exclusive local broadcasting rights for the English Premier League for the next three seasons and for Italy's Serie A for the next two. Rights for the current season are held by Melita, which also owns rights for the Uefa Champions League and Europa League.

Mr Kay said Go was also seeking to acquire rights to films and was working to enhance its TV offering even further. Announcements on these and other plans will be made in the early part of next year, he added.

"We knew we had to get the football rights if we were to be a contender in sport," the chief executive said, pointing out that attractive early bird offers would be available for sports packages early next year.

"It is a defining moment for the industry, for Go, and for our competitors as well. We are very happy, and the morale within the company has shot up. Now we have to deliver on it, next year of course. We have a lot of planning to do, but we are expecting quite a big increase in our customer base. We are now a very serious competitor to Melita in TV and it is not inconceivable that we become market leader at some point as they lose customers and we gain."

Mr Kay was understandably reticent about the outlay involved to secure the football rights and would only say the company did not pay "crazy money but a reasonable amount". Securing rights to one of the most expensive pieces of content in TV was a good investment that would give a good return after the initial six months.

Beyond the fees, other criteria like security and infrastructure were major factors that were considered in TV companies' bids, he pointed out.

Significantly, Nova, Greece's major alternative TV platform, also won exclusive rights to broadcast the Premier League for the next three seasons. Nova is a sister company to Forthnet, the Greek group in which Forgendo, a company jointly owned by Go and its majority shareholder Emirates International Communications, has a 37 per cent stake.

The company's losses over the past two years have negatively impacted Go's bottom line (Go's recognition of Forgendo's results in 2008 cost it €15.6 million) but Mr Kay emphasised Forthnet was witnessing rapid growth. Although it was expected to report a loss for the year, Forthnet had turned cash positive, and the implications of the company securing the rights for the considerable Greek market was a major step forward.

FX, one of two exclusive new channels launched by Go earlier this month, also premiered in conjunction with Nova in Greece. Mr Kay said Go intended to work more closely with Nova in the future, particularly as the company had significant resources like studios and a 300-strong team which Go could tap into.

The chief executive said Go was bracing itself for a significant increase in TV subscriber numbers thanks to the football rights. The 45,000-strong TV customer base has been growing over the past few months with around 1,200 new connections every month.

The company, he added, had won more sector leadership points thanks to the launch of the Go Box+, the HD-ready set-top box with personal video recorder functionality. The box, which is all the rage in the US and the UK, gives customers total ownership of their TV viewing and allows them to pause, rewind live TV, and record digitally.

Thanks to an auto buffer function, it also allows viewers to rewind up to 12 hours of channel programming. According to Mr Kay, the initial response to the new box has been promising and Go has already placed an order for a new consignment.

It is a year since Go launched Home Pack, the four-service package that Mr Kay described as a huge driver in boosting connection figures, which currently stand at 485,000 and are expected to reach 500,000 in around two months.

"Home Pack is a super deal that has proven extremely popular," Mr Kay said. "We have had to reorganise to keep up with demand. After Go, Home Pack is our most recognised brand."

The package has just been redesigned in time for Christmas to include a pay monthly option and a free handset in a bid to satisfy demand by contract customers. In the next few months, Home Pack is to be developed further.

Mobile data was also proving a major seller, and the take up of Go's Laptop Connect plan, in conjunction with Smart Technologies, had "exceeded expectations". Mr Kay pointed out that faster speeds and even lower data rates will be announced next year as the industry was determined to avoid making the same mistake it made with roaming voice rates which were considered too expensive for too long.

Cheaper mobile data rates were announced this year; Go's wireless speeds reach throughputs of up to 7.2 Mbps.

It has been a year of major investment at Go plc: €9.5 million were channelled into the acquisition of a 60 per cent holding in Malta-based Bell Med Group while €7 million were injected in Forthnet to raise Forgendo's shareholding by 2.5 per cent. The 600-strong customer base of Tabone Computers' ISP Web Waves was also acquired for an undisclosed amount, following the earlier buy-out of Next Web.

Mr Kay conceded that Go was not immune to the economic environment, which had been unkind to most. Businesses, he said, were talking less and mobile phone usage had been hit as purse strings were tightened. The TV customer mix was, however, skewed towards top end packages and subscribers continued to upgrade. Market share on fixed line had been maintained at 80 per cent and broadband connections had increased marginally behind the market leader.

As a legacy company, Go's major challenge was managing its cost structures and issues, particularly where its headcount was concerned, were being addressed aggressively. A carefully managed and generous voluntary redundancy scheme allowed Go to shed 450 employees in 2009. The company will meet its headcount target of 1,150 by the end of the year as a final batch of 60 em-ployees are leaving by December 31.

Mr Kay was unable to comment on Dubai-based Emirates International Communications in light of the crisis in the emirate, and would only say that Go was not dependant on its immediate owner for any monies. Go, he insisted, was very stable financially, and shareholders were able to see the changes. The positive sentiment at Go throughout the year had paid off, and on Friday, Go's shares were trading at €2.08, having crossed the €2 barrier earlier in the week.

Go is not resting on its laurels, the chief executive said.

"The industry is extremely competitive with all the major players battling for market share," Mr Kay stressed. "The competition will continue next year. Both our competitors have smaller organisations than us and are more nimble and flexible as a result. We have come a long way in three years and we can see now where we are going to be. It will take us a few years yet but we have caught up dramatically."