‘Tis the season for talking to friends, and if you happen to be near a phone box from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, you can do it for free. Fa la la la, la la la la.
If you’re planning on phoning a friend to say Merry Christmas over the coming days, but you’d prefer to save a few bucks, you might want to find yourself a phone box, and possibly get in line.
Just like it did last year, Telstra has announced that it will be making its payphones free for local, national, and standard mobile calls from December 24 through to Boxing Day on December 26.
That means that if you find a Telstra phone box on Christmas, you can call friends either in Australia or somewhere else and wish them good tidings and all that jazz, and it won’t cost you a thing.
Last year’s effort achieved around 170,000 calls, with Australians taking up the freebie and using the 16,000 Telstra branded payphones around Australia.
And just like last year, it’s not the only little gift Telstra is providing, with access to the Telstra Air WiFi network free, as well.
For Telstra mobile and broadband customers, Telstra Air is already a part of the deal, but if you’re on another telco or ISP — say if you’re a Vodafone, Optus, or another subscriber — you’ll get access, too.
The Telstra Air network uses the Telstra payphones to distribute a WiFi service across the country, making it possible to skip the 4G downloads and rely on WiFi, something we can all appreciate.
In fact, last year Australians appreciated the three day Telstra Air freebie to the tune of 5.6 terabytes, with Queensland yielding the most downloads over the three days. This year, the Telstra Air WiFi freebie returns, but like the free phone calls at Telstra payphones, it’s only for December 24, 25, and 26.
This goes live on Monday and ends on Wednesday, and it should work anywhere in Australia where you can find a Telstra phonebox.
