SYDNEY: Australian operator Telstra will more than double its Wi-Fi trial to switch on more than 1,500 new hotspots nationwide. The operator will also extend its free Wi-Fi trial until June, building on the 1,100 hotspots that are already operational across the country. Telstra will also bring Wi-Fi to its 80 owned retail stores later this year.
Those other users would pay for the privilege, either by having the data used count against their own Telstra broadband plans if they are participating in the scheme, or by purchasing guest passes.
The latest developments are an extension of the free trial period until June, and the announcement that the current trial will be enlarged by adding 1,500 more hotspots to the existing 1,100.
The locations of some of these new hotspots have already been determined, and include the Whitsundays and Mount Gambier as well as every company-owned Telstra Store. But Telstra is inviting the public to say which other places they want to be prioritised.
“We are asking Australians to go to and pick their preferred location from the list so we know which hotspot locations will really help people connect in regional areas around Australia,” said Group Executive Telstra Retail, Gordon Ballantyne.
More than one million unique devices have already connected to the 1,100 hotspots that were switched on last November, and more than 270TB of data has been downloaded.
Information about Telstra’s Wi-Fi network including the location of hotspots is supposed to be available at but that page was unavailable at the time of writing.
