Telstra has launched its Australia-wide Wi-Fi network, allowing its two million broadband customers to access 8,000 internet hotspots throughout the country – and millions more overseas – via their home broadband allowances.
Known as Telstra Air, the rollout has resulted in the retrofitting of old Telstra payphones and other locations with Wi-Fi routers to create the country’s largest wireless network, with coverage in around 250 cities and towns throughout Australia.
Aside from the hotspots installed by Telstra throughout Australia, the network’s coverage will be further extended through an opt-in process whereby Telstra home broadband customers will share their home Wi-Fi network as a public hotspot, thus allowing fellow Telstra Air users to get online when nearby. Telstra assures its customers that the home hotspot network will be secure and segregated from their private network.
However, through a partnership deal with Spanish Wi-Fi company Fon, Telstra Air’s functionality extends overseas with users being able to connect to 15 million hotspots in 18 countries, including Greece. The data consumed in these sessions will simply be deducted from the user’s home broadband data allowance.
The result is that getting online to send a message or check a map will become cheaper and less troublesome whilst overseas. Travellers being hit with enormous bills for data roaming charges will, ideally, become a thing of the past.
Telstra home broadband users can sign up to Telstra Air at no cost provided they already have the correct modem. The hardware can otherwise be purchased at Telstra stores.