WHILE we counsel against using free wifi unless you’re using a Virtual Private Network (and if you’re not sure then you’re probably not) it is worth noting that Telstra’s cunning re-use of its pay phone infrastructure has kicked off today on City Walk.

Telstra has switched on their first Wi-Fi hotspots in Canberra as part of the full roll-out of 1,000 Wi-Fi hotspots set to launch before Christmas.

Eventually the network will only be for their customers, but until it is officially launched next year the trial network is available for free. It of course competes with the ACT Government’s own network of equally unsafe free public wifi.

“This trial in Canberra is the beginning of our ambition to switch on more than two million hotspots across the nation and give customers the best Wi-Fi experience in and out of the home,” said Telstra Country Wide Area General Manager, Southern NSW and ACT, Larissa Redford.

“Anyone in Canberra who has a Wi-Fi enabled device can experience the beginnings of Australia’s largest Wi-Fi network. Users will be able to find out where their nearest hotspot is on telstra.com and logging on is as simple as clicking accepting the terms and conditions and clicking a single button.”

In Canberra, Wi-Fi will be available at 148 and 222 City Walk from today with the switch-on also planned in the coming weeks for:

• Dickson, outside the Post office, Dickson
• 53 Alinga Street, outside the Post office, Canberra
• 20 Bradley Street, Phillip
• 82 Giles Street, near the Post office, Kingston
• 7 Franklin Street adjacent the ACT TAB, Griffith
• 2 Barker Street, Griffith Shops, Griffith
• 189 Crawford, Queanbeyan
• 251 Crawford RSL Memorial Arcade, Queanbeyan
• 142 Bunda Street, outside Trumps Arcade, Canberra

The first Wi-Fi trials will be located at payphone sites in the heart of local communities. Beyond the trial, Telstra-built hotspots will be located at a variety of sites that provide the best access for communities including Telstra retail outlets, exchange buildings and payphone sites.

After the launch, you will be able to access Telstra Wi-Fi either:

• Telstra home broadband customers with a compatible gateway who join the Wi-Fi community can use their home broadband allowance via domestic hotspots and connect to more than 13 million Fon-enabled hotspots globally, or
• Non Telstra customers and Telstra customers who have not joined the Wi-Fi community will be able to connect to Fon-enabled Telstra Wi-Fi hotspots for a small charge using guest passes.