How to call Santa (for free) this Christmas

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 17 November 2025

Telstra is once again offering free calls to Santa via its payphone network to celebrate Christmas. Until December 24, every Telstra payphone has a direct line to Santa where children can call up and tell the jolly fella what's on their Christmas list.

In order to call the big guy, dial #HO HO HO (#46 46 46) from any Telstra payphone across the country. This is the fifth year Telstra has offered its Santa Service, and the telco says over 1.5 million calls have been made to the North Pole so far.

To celebrate the anniversary, Telstra revealed a few stats:

The busiest phone booth is in Melbourne's Bourke St Mall
The most popular day to call Santa is Christmas Eve
The 1.5 million calls amounted to over four million minutes of talk time
The prime time for calling Santa is between 6pm and 7pm
Even when the Santa Service isn't running, people are calling - 100,000 calls have come through to "Santa's out-of-office" since last Christmas

Telstra made its payphones free in 2021, and started offering free WiFi access at over 3,000 payphone sites in August 2023. And free is a lot better than paying international call rates if you're trying to dial the North Pole. For some reason, the Arctic doesn't tend to be a standard inclusion on phone plans with unlimited international calls.

If you’re looking for other ways to engage your kids in the holiday spirit, then check out Google’s Santa Tracker. On Christmas Eve, you’ll be able to track Santa’s movements around the globe, and there are a couple of online puzzle games to play in the lead-up.

Looking for a new NBN plan?

These are the most popular NBN 50 plans with WhistleOut users this week:

#1	Dodo Editor's Pick	Dodo All Fixed Line nbn® Editor's Pick nbn50 Unlimited Plan All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $30/mth discount for 6 months based on the standard price $87.99/mth. Ends 08.12.26. T&Cs apply. $57.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $87.99/mth Min. cost $57.99 Go to Site*	$57.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $87.99/mth Min. cost $57.99	Go to Site
#2	amaysim	amaysim All Fixed Line nbn® NBN50 All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $40/mth off for the first 6 months ($30 NBN Sale + $10 Standard Intro offer), then $85/mth. Ends 04.10.26 $45/mth for first 6 months, then $85/mth Min. cost $45 Go to Site	$45/mth for first 6 months, then $85/mth Min. cost $45	Go to Site
#3	Tangerine Telecom	Tangerine Telecom All Fixed Line nbn® Value Plus NBN 50/20 All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $25/mth off for the first 6 mths, $64.90/month for first 6 months, then $89.90/month. $64.90/mth for first 6 mths, then $89.90/mth Min. cost $64.90 Go to Site	$64.90/mth for first 6 mths, then $89.90/mth Min. cost $64.90	Go to Site
#4	TPG	TPG All Fixed Line nbn® nbn50 Unlimited Plan All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: $69.99/mth for first 6 months, then $89.99/mth. T&Cs apply. $69.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $89.99/mth Min. cost $69.99 Link not supplied	$69.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $89.99/mth Min. cost $69.99	Link not supplied
#5	Aussie Broadband	Aussie Broadband All Fixed Line nbn® Value nbn - Unlimited All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 47/18 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $25 off for the first 6 months. Promo code SPRING25. $95/mth after promo ends 15.11.26 $70/mth for first 6 months, then $95/mth Min. cost $70 Link not supplied	$70/mth for first 6 months, then $95/mth Min. cost $70	Link not supplied
#6	Superloop	Superloop All Fixed Line nbn® Extra-value nbn50/20 All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $20/mth off for 6 months! $69/mth for 6 mths, then $89/mth + Bundle & Save $69/mth for first 6 mths, then $89/mth Min. cost $69 Go to Site	$69/mth for first 6 mths, then $89/mth Min. cost $69	Go to Site
#7	iiNet	iiNet All Fixed Line nbn® nbn50 Liimitless All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $20/mth off for 6 mths – $69.99/mth for first 6 months, then $89.99/mth. Use code SAVE20FOR6 $69.99/mth + $10 Upfront for first 6 mths, then $89.99/mth Min. cost $79.99 Link not supplied	$69.99/mth + $10 Upfront for first 6 mths, then $89.99/mth Min. cost $79.99	Link not supplied
#8	Belong	Belong All Fixed Line nbn® NBN Standard Plus – Unlimited All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $36 off for 6 months - $55/mth for first 6 mths, then $91/mth (Offer ends 04.11.26) + Free $80 Mobile SIM $55/mth for first 6 mths, then $91/mth Min. cost $55 Go to Site	$55/mth for first 6 mths, then $91/mth Min. cost $55	Go to Site
#9	Kogan Internet	Kogan Internet All Fixed Line nbn® Silver Unlimited All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $11/mth off for 12mths. $69.90/mth for first 12 months then revert back to $80.90/mth. Offer available until withdrawn. $69.90/mth for first 12 mths, then $80.90/mth Min. cost $69.90 Go to Site	$69.90/mth for first 12 mths, then $80.90/mth Min. cost $69.90	Go to Site
#10	Flip	Flip All Fixed Line nbn® Unlimited Family nbn50 All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $16.90/mth off for 6 months - $68/mth for first 6mths then $84.90/mth. New customers only. Ends 31.10.26. T&Cs apply. $68/mth for first 6 mths then $84.90/mth Min. cost $68 Go to Site	$68/mth for first 6 mths then $84.90/mth Min. cost $68	Go to Site

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

Read full bio