Early next year, that is the year 2015 (if all goes according to plan), Telstra will start to launch a new network where you can connect your devices to a Wi-Fi hotspot around you, where ever possible.
The idea is for private residences to share their Wi-Fi (or a small chunk of it, to be exact) as a hotspot around the block so people can connect and enjoy the connectivity. The goal is to have 2 million Wi-Fi hotspots across Australia (and 12 million international hotspots) within 5 years. Telstra will also build around 8,000 Wi-Fi hotspots around the country at shopping strips, business centers, and a like.
To access the upcoming Telstra Wi-Fi network, you don’t need to be a Telstra broadband customer (i.e you can pay for it) but if you are, you can use your own broadband allowance when you are connected to the network. To be able to connect, you need to participate in the network by allowing a portion of your bandwidth to be used by others too (turning your home Wi-Fi into a Wi-Fi hotspot in the network).
So for example, imagine that you are a Telstra broadband customer. By using the new gateway router, you will be able to share a portion of your bandwidth with the other Telstra Wi-Fi customers. By sharing yours to the others, you can connect to other participants’ Wi-Fi hotspot while you are in their vicinity. So, to take, you also have to give. Fair and square.
There are also opportunities to connect while you are outside of Australia, assuming you are on Fon-enabled Telstra Wi-Fi hotspots. Here is a brief video about the upcoming Telstra Wi-Fi network:
Why bother when we have a faster 4G on our devices already? Though it gives a much faster speed, unfortunately data is still expensive. Watching YouTube videos, for example, can suck your data allowances away like there’s no tomorrow. And correct me if I’m wrong, browsing on a 4G/LTE also sucks more battery life than on a Wi-Fi.
To register your interest, head off to Telstra Wi-Fi page.
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