Telstra to double its Wi-Fi trial hotspots and extends free trial's regional Australia the big winner

Telstra has today announced it will more than double its Wi-Fi trial to switch on more than 1,500 new hotspots nationwide and extend the chance for all Australians to experience the network for free until June, building on the1,100 hotspots Australians already enjoy.

Telstra has also announced it will bring Wi-Fi to its entire 80 owned retail stores later this year.

Group Executive Telstra Retail, Gordon Ballantyne said Telstra’s Wi-Fi network is growing rapidly and this extension will mean we will bring an extra 60 locations online with places as widespread as the Whitsundays and Mount Gambier joining more than 250 suburbs and towns already connected.

“Australians are proving to be fast adopters of Wi-Fi, with more than 1 million unique devices connecting to the 1,100 hotspots we have switched on since November.

“We want the community to be a part of the rollout and are giving them a chance to tell us where we should priorities switching on 500 of the new sites. We have a list of areas where we think Australians might like to use Wi-Fi but we want to know for sure by asking people where they would like the next Wi-Fi hotspots switched on.

“We are asking Australians to go to tel.st/newwifination and pick their preferred location from the list so we know which hotspot locations will really help people connect in regional areas around Australia.”

“Consumers are telling us they love the speed and reliability of the service which is typically strong enough to let them stream video, update apps and speedily share photos on social media which has led to more than 270 TB of data downloaded since November, we know Aussies are loving using the free trial so we want to make sure we are putting the new hotspots in locations they want them.”

To give us your pick for a hotspot location go to: tel.st/newwifination

To take advantage of the free trial Wi-Fi trial users need to:
 

• Find their nearest hotspot at Telstra.com/wifi
• Once they are in range of a hotspot find Free_Telstra_WiFi
• Accept T&Cs and begin using the free Wi-F

“When the full network launches customers who sign up to become a member of the network will have access to more 3,500 Telstra built Wi-Fi hotspots, the residential hotspots created by other members and more than 14 million hotspots worldwide.”

When the network launches Australians will be able to access the full Telstra Wi-Fi network in a number of ways:
 

• Telstra home broadband customers with a compatible broadband service and gateway who join the Wi-Fi community can use their home broadband allowance at domestic hotspots and more than 14 million Fon-enabled hotspots overseas
• Non Telstra customers and Telstra customers who have not joined the Wi-Fi community will be able to connect to residential Telstra Wi-Fi hotspots for a small charge using guest passes

Australians can register their details to receive more information about Telstra Wi-Fi as it’s released by heading to Telstra.com/wifi.