Channelnews : telstra hangs up on free wi-fi: paid network ahead
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Former CEO David Thodey announced plans for the new service in May last year. The plan included turning more than 20,000 payphones around Australia – most now little used – into Wi-Fi
network entry points. Eventually the telco hopes to have half a million hotspots available, some outside Australia. The free trial sites will be progressively switched off from Sunday in
preparation for the network’s official launch in coming weeks. While most users will have to pay a yet-to-be-disclosed fee to use the new hotspots, Telstra home broadband subscribers will be
able to access the service free. However they will also be asked to share their bandwidth with other Telstra customers, and will need to purchase a gateway and Wi-Fi range extender for
about $210.