Telstra has today announced that it will be launching its Telstra Air national Wi-Fi network next Tuesday, which will be available via a network of hotspots in more than 250 towns and cities across Australia.The service is launching for Telstra home broadband customers, who will be able to get online on the go using their home broadband allowance at thousands of hotspots located at payphone sites and retail outlets throughout the country.
Telstra has partnered with Wi-Fi provider Fon, additionally providing Telstra Air members access to connections at 15 million hotspots overseas in 18 countries.
The network is also being created using Wi-Fi sharing technology from Fon, with customers sharing a small portion of their home internet bandwidth in exchange for using their own home broadband allowance at hotspots across the nation and overseas.
“The network will be brought to life by us and by our customers, who can enjoy greater value from their broadband service by accessing their allowance outside the home,” Karsten Wildberger, Telstra group managing director of consumer and products, stated.
“We expect it will grow rapidly reaching thousands of neighbourhoods and millions of people across the country over the next five years.”
Eligible Telstra home broadband customers will be able to become a Telstra Air member at no additional charge provided they have a compatible gateway (existing eligible customers without a compatible gateway will need to purchase one), with members able to automatically log into their nearest hotspot via the Telstra Air app, which will also be available from next week.
Wildberger stated Telstra will also be launching new broadband packages from next Tuesday.
