The announcement is part of a AU$100 million ($93.5 million) investment to provide connectivity to users nationwide, irrespective of whether they are Telstra customers or not.
The carrier plans to launch two million Wifi hotspots across the country within five years, and will allow users to connect at more than 12 million international hotspots.
Telstra plans to create local hotspots using domestic routers through a sharing scheme, as well as deploy at least 8,000 hotspots in public places.
The network, which is expected to launch in early 2015, is designed to allow users to share a portion of their bandwidth with other Wifi customers. The network will enable customers to use their home broadband allowance through the Telstra Wifi hotspot network, as well as gain access to more than 12 million Fon hotspots around the world.
“Telstra’s new Wi-Fi network will broaden the choice of connection giving people a convenient way to get online using their portable devices when spending time at a hotspot. It will offer our customers the unique option to seamlessly use their home broadband allowance inside and outside the home,” said David Thodey, CEO at Telstra.
In March, Telstra was fined by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for leaking nearly 16,000 sets of private customer details.
