Telstra to double reach of trial Wi-Fi network

Telstra has revealed plans to more than double the hotspots for its nationwide W-Fi network trial and to extend the free period for using the network.

The company plans to switch on more than 1500 new Wi-Fi hotspots in addition to the 1100 in service.

Activating the new hotspots will extend the network to 60 new locations, including the Whitsundays and Mount Gambier. The network currently covers around 250 suburbs and towns.

Telstra has also announced it will extend the free trial of the network until June. Telstra Retail Group Executive Gordon Ballantyne said more than 1 million unique devices have connected to the 1100 hotspots since the trial launched in November.

“We want the community to be a part of the rollout and are giving them a chance to tell us where we should prioritise switching on 500 of the new sites,” he said.

“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.”

Last year, Telstra revealed a $100 million project to deploy one of the world’s largest Wi-Fi networks, consisting of over two million hotspots sourced mainly from Telstra Broadband customers and using the customers’ own Wi-Fi modems.

Telstra broadband customers contributing a hotspot will be able to use their existing monthly bandwidth allocations on the Wi-Fi network, and non-customers will be able to pay for day passes to use the network.

Image courtesy of Clive Darra under CC