Telstra is making Wi-Fi free at selected payphones across the country, to give more Australians access to free internet – whether they’re in a vulnerable situation and need access to help, or connecting with family and loved ones during natural disasters.
Telstra Group Executive for Consumer and Small Business Michael Ackland said providing free Wi-Fi from Telstra payphones was the next step in building a connected future for all Australians, after making national payphone calls free last year.
“While alot of us take connectivity for granted these days, many isolated or vulnerable people, although they may have access to a mobile device, don’t always have the data to be able to connect. Free Wi-Fi has the potential to make a massive difference in their ability to stay connected to family and friends and access essential services,” Mr Ackland said.
“And while it’s especially important for our community’s most vulnerable, our Free Wi-Fi is available for everyone –whether you’re a Telstra customer or not. So if you’re out and about, have runout of data and need to connect with mum on the family chat, you can get online and get in contact.“
From today, around 3,000 Telstra payphones across the country will offer free Wi-Fi with the goal of upgrading our entire payphone network of almost 12,000 payphones over the coming years.”
Mr Ackland said a priority under the initiative was for Telstra to provide enhanced power resilience and Wi-Fi capability for 1,000 payphones in disaster-prone regional areas.
“In recent years we’ve seen payphones play a vital role for communities facing disasters like bushfires or floods. By providing free Wi-Fi, as well as free national calls at our payphones, we want to help Australians when they need us most so they can connect with loved ones and access the help they need.”A recent survey by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) found that 60 percent of respondents agree that free public Wi-Fi is important to them, however, only 36 percent are using free public Wi-Fi near where they live, and a further 31 percent do not even know where they can access it.
In August last year Telstra made all standard national calls from Telstra payphones around Australia free of charge. Almost 19 million free calls have been made from Telstra payphones in the past year, with more than 250,000 calls made to critical services like Triple Zero (000) and Lifeline. Centrelink was the most dialled service from payphones in the past year.
“Since we made calls free from payphones last year we’ve seen a 70 per cent rise in call volumes across the country, showing the humble Telstra payphone still has an important role to play,” Mr Ackland said.“
Payphones are supporting communities nation-wide, and while the Northern Territory has the highest number of free calls made, our single strongest performing payphone sits in Melbourne’s CBD within community housing.
Welcoming the decision to provide free Wi-Fi from Telstra payphones, Major Brendan Nottle of The Salvation Army Melbourne Project 614 said many vulnerable residents were already benefiting from free calls.
“We have people we work with that deeply appreciate the free Telstra payphone initiative because they had become disconnected from family and friends, but that barrier has now been removed. We believe that the free Wi-Fi initiative can serve a similar function in connecting people with support services,” he said.“
To celebrate the announcement Telstra has re-visited one of Australia’s most recognisable “Why’s” with a little help from a familiar face…
Releasing the video ‘The Great Why-Fi’ Telstra is paying tribute to one of most iconic ads from the last 20 years with an appearance from a once, very curious, Brandon Fraser, who played Daniel in the original ad (Brandon on right, green shirt).
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