Telstra rolls out 1,000 free wireless Internet hotspots nationwide

By Chris C., November 19 2014
Telstra rolls out 1,000 free wireless Internet hotspots nationwide

From today, roaming travellers and CBD workers can enjoy free access to 150 free Telstra Wi-Fi hotspots across Australia until early 2015, with 1,000 locations planned to be up and running by Christmas.

On the list are pedestrian-heavy areas such as Hyde Park in Sydney, the Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne and King George Square in Brisbane – situated directly in front of Brisbane City Hall.

By the end of the year, access points will pop up in more than 100 towns and cities around the country, allowing users to surf the web at no cost.

“We want customers to have greater options for connecting when they're out and about,” said Gordon Ballantyne, Telstra’s Group Executive Retail.

“From browsing the web, streaming videos or sharing photos with friends, we want customers to have a taste of what the network will be like next year”.

When free surfing winds down, Telstra’s home broadband customers can opt to securely share a portion of their own internet connection as a Telstra hotpot in exchange for using their home broadband download allowance at hotspots across Australia.

Through a partnership with Fon, these users will also be able to connect at over 13 million locations overseas – again with their usage being deducted from their household plan.

Internet users without a Telstra Internet service at home, or Telstra customers that don’t wish to share their home internet with their immediate community, can instead pay for wireless access directly via the hotspot.

For more information, head to the Telstra website.

More on staying connected on the road:

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Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.

So, assuming free access means free access up to 30 June 2015 (a liberal interpretation of "early 2015"),

Telstra rolls out 1,000 free wireless Internet hotspots nationwide for the next 7 months only.

Is that correct or have I misunderstood?

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

24 Aug 2011

Total posts 785

Correct. After that you need to pay or be a Bigpond customer etc. 


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