On top of Telstra’s existing customer support options for those directly affected by the bushfires raging around Australia, Telstra is expanding its assistance program further tomorrow.
Telstra will be opening its payphone network as well as Telstra Air Wi-Fi – on equipped payphones – to provide a free-to-all service from tomorrow until further notice.
In a post on Telstra Exchange, CEO Andy Penn said:
We know these catastrophic bushfires have impacted communities, families and individuals and staying in touch with loved ones is vital throughout these times. To assist with this from Monday 6th January we will be making all of our payphone network around the country available to provide free local, national and standard mobile calls.
We will also be allowing free use of the Telstra Air Wi-Fi network at locations where payphones are equipped to provide this service.
This free service will remain in place until further notice and we hope alongside our disaster assistance packages across all impacted states it is in some small part another means of assisting communities and individuals that have been impacted by these terrible bushfires.
Telstra hasn’t stopped at the affected areas and states, extending the free services around the country.
Given the scale of the disaster we’re dealing with around the nation, communication is the one constant we all need for some assurance that our friends and loved ones are okay.
Telstra providing this service is a small offering for a company of their size, and yet one that will make a remarkable difference to so many people.
Bravo.
How about getting my home broadband to work? 6 yrs of faults. Way to go telstra.
Why do you stay with a service for six years if it’s not working properly?
What? Payphones still exist?
The concept of a payphone, which is a communal phone, is nowadays rather odd, or maybe quaint. They accept a form of currency from Roman times… the metal coin.
Maybe whatever payphones are left should be made free all the time, to justify their existence, and to stave off their inevitable relocation to museums.