Telstra is making pay phones and its public WiFi free for Christmas

Telstra will be spreading a bit of extra Christmas cheer this year, with free calls and free Wi-Fi access over the festive period.

From December 24 until January 1, anyone will be able to make free standard national and mobile calls through Telstra payphones and Telstra home phones, and access free WiFi at select Telstra Air hotspots. This excludes international calls, 13 numbers, and premium directory services.

Telstra says 120,000 free payphone calls were made during the three-day period when the company ran a similar promotion last year. In addition, over 23,000 users connected to its Telstra Air hotspots, burning through 3.5TB of data in the same period. 

In previous years Telstra offered free calls and WiFi for three days, but has expanded the window to nine days this time around. 

"We’re driven to ensure that those who are separated from their families by circumstance, or even those who want to reconnect for the first time in a long time are given every opportunity on our networ," said Telstra Foundation Head Jackie Coates. 

"Christmas is a time where feelings of isolation and loneliness can be at their peak, so we want to bring families closer together with a simple phone call, text or video call."

Over 16,000 Telstra payphones are still in operation across Australia. Many of these have been repurposed as public WiFi hotspots for the Telstra Air network.

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