Free Wi-Fi on Telstra payphones: tracking a boom in usage
A payphone with Wi-Fi might not make sense to those with a lot of data up their sleeves. But those without much connectivity see free Wi-Fi at our payphones as an essential support.
For three years now, you’ve been able to make free local, standard national and mobile calls from any of our payphones. And for the last two years, we’ve made Wi-Fi from many of these payphones free as well. From Esperance to New England, Penrith to Perth, millions of Australians use our payphones for free Australian local calls and free internet connectivity every single month.
Across the country, we now have almost 4000 sites providing free internet access through our payphone Wi-Fi. This widespread availability ensures that more Australians can benefit from our services. We strategically position these sites to make sure that connectivity is within reach for many.
What we’ve found from looking at the last two years of data is that our free Wi-Fi is being used by loads of different groups for different needs, including:
- Remote Indigenous communities, for example, use free Wi-Fi to stay connected to vital health and government services.
- Communities affected by natural disasters who may have disrupted service at home gather around payphones with free Wi-Fi to let their loved ones know they’re OK or to help them rebuild and reconnect.
- People in vulnerable circumstances, such as those experiencing homelessness or fleeing domestic violence, can use our free Wi-Fi services to access safety and support services.
Since making Wi-Fi free at our payphones, we’ve noticed more and more people log on to do everything from just browsing the web to sending emails and even using cloud services or internet messaging services like WhatsApp or Messenger.
To put it into perspective, the amount of data being used every single month is enough to stream over five years of 4K TV without stopping, or to email every single person in Australia about 102 times. Or it’s even enough data to watch over 100 years of TikTok videos. Without stopping.
Wi-fi payphones are especially important for those without access to connectivity. Over 3.3 million Australians - including more than 700,000 children are living in poverty (Mission Australia, 2022), and this number continues to grow. As budgets tighten, people are facing difficult choices, some having to decide between essential needs like internet access and basic necessities such as heating or food.
We know that people need connectivity to do their work, attend school, complete homework, and transact online. It’s vital for Australian families, so making sure people have access to it is more important than ever.
Free Wi-Fi at our payphones provides an important service, allowing people to stay connected without additional cost. This access helps those who might otherwise be digitally excluded due to hardship.
Without internet, individuals risk missing out on job opportunities, financial support, essential services, and staying connected with loved ones.
Improving our free payphones
We want to make sure more Aussies have access to free Wi-Fi at our payphones. That’s why we’re making some improvements going forward.
With scientists predicting natural disasters to worsen and become more frequent, we know that our payphones—especially those with free Wi-Fi—are super-important when the worst hits.
We’ve seen lines of people queued up to make calls to loved ones following fires and floods, and even more who have brought deckchairs or eskies to sit down near a payphone and connect to the internet.
To make sure more people can rely on our payphones and payphones with Telstra Wi-Fi, we’re upgrading 1,000 payphones around the country.
In times of need, the payphone can on occasion be the only means of communication for those impacted. These 1,000 upgraded payphones will allow anyone to not only make free calls but also charge their devices with built-in USB charging facilities and stay active for longer thanks to better power backups.
Where to find free Telstra Wi-Fi in Australia
Not sure where your nearest payphone is? Use our payphone locator tool to find your nearest payphone, or check out the map above.
How to connect to Telstra Wi-Fi
- Find your closest Telstra Wi-Fi enabled payphone on the map in our Find Us page. Or you can just look for the “free Telstra Wi-Fi” branded payphones while you’re out and about.
- Turn on your device’s Wi-Fi if it isn’t already on.
- Select the “free Telstra Wi-Fi” in your Wi-Fi settings.
- The Telstra Wi-Fi portal will launch automatically where you’ll just need to agree to the terms and conditions.
- That’s it! You’re online.
After you connect to a Telstra Wi-Fi network for the first time, your device should automatically connect to other Telstra Wi-Fi hotspots too. If it doesn’t, just repeat the steps above to connect.
Free Telstra Wi-Fi Terms and Conditions
This free Wi-Fi service (the Service) is provided by Telstra Corporation Limited. By accessing and using the Service, you accept the following terms and agree to manage how you personally access the Service in accordance with them.
The Service is open and public. We recommend that you don't send or receive sensitive personal information or carry out activities like Internet banking, and make sure you disconnect from the Wi-Fi network after using it. We do, in our sole discretion, limit or block certain websites or content.
This is a free service provided to support the community. To ensure equal use and quality of Wi-Fi for all our customers, we ask you to fairly use the service and monitor the amount of time you are connected, particularly in times of increased community need such as emergencies or local disasters.
You are solely responsible for any information or data uploaded, downloaded or otherwise communicated via the Service and you are responsible for keeping all usernames, passwords and other security-based information secure and private. You should protect your device against unwanted traffic or downloads, including by maintaining up-to-date anti-virus software.
You accept that your access to and use of the Service is at your own risk and we do not guarantee that the Service will be available at all times or will operate without error. We can suspend or terminate your access to the Service in our sole discretion and without notice, without any liability to you.
Once you access the Service and open your internet browser to view a website, we will collect information regarding your web browser and device type/name and/or operating system information as used by your device, to determine the most effective way to display the requested webpage or content on your device. We will also collect and store the IP and MAC address of the device that has accessed the Service and non-personal information about your use of the Wi-Fi service. We will use this information for monitoring our service so that we can improve it.
You must not use or attempt to use the Service, or allow Service to be used in any way: that is unlawful or could cause us to be in breach of any law-e.g., you must not infringe the intellectual property rights of any person or commit any criminal offences; that is obscene, defamatory, libellous, threatening, abusive, offensive or hateful; which could result in us incurring liability to any person which could interfere with the Service, our networks or equipment or those of another person, or the provision by us of services to you or another person; to engage in conduct or activities that we consider could adversely affect our reputation or brands; or which attempts to manipulate or bypass any limitations on the Service by any means.