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Telstra Has Free Calls To Japan Until March 25

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Telstra Has Free Calls To Japan Until March 25
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POWERevolution on 15/03/2011 - 10:43 lifehacker.com.au (1350 clicks)
Last edited 15/03/2011 - 22:33

If you have any friends or family in Japan at the moment, Telstra has announced they won’t be charging landline or mobile customers who call the earthquake/tsunami stricken country. They’ve even backdated it to 6am last Friday to cover anyone who called when the news first broke, and the offer will be in place until 6am March 25.

To enable Australians to check on family and friends in Japan following last week’s earthquake/tsunami disaster, Telstra will not charge for calls to Japan made using its mobile and landline networks. The fee-free period (which also covers text messages) runs from 6:00am on Friday 11 March through until the same time on Friday March 25, with calls to Japanese numbers billed as zero cost. Handy to know if you’re trying to get in touch or stay in touch.

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  • leeroys_dad on 15/03/2011 - 10:56
    +16

    mad props to telstra

    • Purt on 21/03/2011 - 22:07

      yeah pretty cool, why do I want to call Japan though.

  • kumak on 15/03/2011 - 10:58
    +7

    Confirmed from telstra website:
    http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/media-centre/announce…

  • syddongjun on 15/03/2011 - 11:04
    +2

    Thanks Telstra!!! :) Really appreciate this!!!

  • mayocrewz on 15/03/2011 - 11:09

    Is this just calls to landlines or both landlines and mobiles in Japan ???

    • hijupic on 15/03/2011 - 11:15
      +2

      Its seems like it is free to either esp if SMS are included

  • POWERevolution on 15/03/2011 - 11:20

    Tarek Robbiati, Group Managing Director, Telstra International Group, said Telstra was pleased to offer support to its customers during this difficult time.
    “Calls and text messages to Japan will not be billed during this time.”

    as hijupic said above so mobile should be free too

  • whiteflame on 15/03/2011 - 11:32
    +5

    welcome this telstra initiative, hope other carriers will follow

    • savememoney on 15/03/2011 - 11:48
      +1

      Agree with you on that too…

      • altomic on 15/03/2011 - 12:03
        +1

        agree.

        I'm with Optus and was talking with friends in Sendai on sunday for 25minutes

        • CyberMurning on 15/03/2011 - 12:09

          how was sendai (and matshushima) post-tsunami??? went there 2years ago, it was beautiful place.

        • altomic on 15/03/2011 - 13:45
          +3

          sendai central was fine aside from some very minor building damage. Japanese buildings are built to withstand earthquakes and they do it excellently. according to my friends in Sendai If it weren't for the tsunami then there would have been so little damage that you wouldn't have realised that there had been the biggest earthquake in Japans recorded history. most of everything 8 kms east of the CBD has been damaged/destroyed. pretty much from the coast up to Sendai station is flat land/former rice fields/reclaimed land.

          matsushima- the beautiful sightseeing coastal areas are basically gone.

    • issh on 15/03/2011 - 15:01
      +1

      +1

  • CyberMurning on 15/03/2011 - 11:53

    sms included.

    i thought they use docomo system not gsm so they (japanese people) can not receive sms from us?

    • furyou on 15/03/2011 - 12:32

      Japan does have an SMS system, it just costs more than sending emails from their phones and is limited to 160 chars (or 80 jp chars) instead of unlimited for emails.
      So nobody ever uses it. But they'll be able to get the msg.

    • zzz on 15/03/2011 - 13:13

      some companies can receive sms
      like Softcell.

      • altomic on 15/03/2011 - 13:31
        +7

        tainted love?!?!

        • PleasureMe on 15/03/2011 - 15:14
          +2

          hahaha, that made me :)

      • Xanthorrhoea semipl… on 15/03/2011 - 14:46

        I thought the mobile towers were all gone when the tsunami came.

        • altomic on 15/03/2011 - 21:06

          mountains are usually within 10kms of the coast. towers on the mountains. it more a case of where power has been lost or basically peoples mobiles have gone flat and they just don't have anyway to charge them. my friend was at my old company (Snedai CBD) charging her phone due to her house (4 kms from CBD) having no power

      • danielz on 16/03/2011 - 16:42

        im pretty sure it's called softbank

    • savememoney on 15/03/2011 - 13:16

      I just sent an SMS to a friend via my Voda mobile, they received it fine.

  • coolsteps on 15/03/2011 - 12:08

    is calling using telstra prepaid mobile to japan free too?

    • furyou on 15/03/2011 - 12:32
      +2

      or telstra public phones… ok I'm dreaming..

  • lsdbeta on 15/03/2011 - 12:54
    +13

    Don't forget the poor pokemons. I hope they're all alright :(

    • montorola on 15/03/2011 - 13:40
      +16

      They should be safe in their pokeballs. Don't know about pikachu though, he always refused to go in there.

      • Xanthorrhoea semipl… on 15/03/2011 - 14:45
        -7

        Hope it doesn't let off sparks. Nuclear plant hydrogen gas might go off again.

      • lsdbeta on 15/03/2011 - 18:14
        -5

        What about the wild ones? will they continue to appear?

        :(

    • kheob on 15/03/2011 - 17:06
      +15

      It's a bit soon for jokes don't you think? 2400+ people have died and more than 10000 are missing and you're making jokes like that.

      • lsdbeta on 15/03/2011 - 18:14
        -6

        Are you saying there are no wild pokemon in japan?

      • Xanthorrhoea semipl… on 15/03/2011 - 20:15
        +3

        You're right kheob. It is a bit early for such jokes. Sorry for that post, I was just responding to posts.

      • ur2dads on 16/03/2011 - 03:17
        +1

        Oh please. Get off your high horse Khoeb. Obviously its a sensitive situation and perhaps he made an ill-advised anecdote of the situation but please don't parade around with your politically correct bs and lecture others on what to say.

        I'm not attacking you personally (or defending Isdbeta's joke) - and I apologise if it comes across that way, I'm but simply standing up for freedom of speech which sadly is being phased out in Australia by all this PC garbage.

        Sorry for making a big deal out of this, but it's something I feel strongly about.

        /Rant and props to Telstra.

        • kheob on 16/03/2011 - 03:26
          -2

          You're telling me to get off my high horse when you're doing EXACTLY the same thing? You say you support freedom of speech yet you tell me off for saying what I feel needed to be said. Take your hypocritical nonsense elsewhere please.

        • ur2dads on 16/03/2011 - 12:01
          -1

          We'll I've already said what I've needed to say. I don't want to go off-topic and argue on a bargain forum, however I want to quickly point that I never preached upon restricting your free speech (and if you read carefully), all I said was for you to 'get off your high horse'. Again, I don't want to offend you, it's only the PC garbage which frustrates me as to me, it dwells upon the death of individuality and forces us all to talk in a set of bible-loving, pretentious idioms.

        • kheob on 16/03/2011 - 16:25

          So you're arguing that free speech is only right if it agrees with you. You don't like my political correctness so you condemn me for expressing my views. Way to go.

        • kheob on 16/03/2011 - 16:28

          And also, saying 'no offence' does not mean the person will not take any offence.

        • ur2dads on 16/03/2011 - 19:41
          +1

          Perhaps 'freedom of speech' was not the most prudent of words in the OP, and to your credit, you've gone over this part again and again. Like I've said many times now, it's PC gone mad. You can't even make light of any situations these days without being frowned upon, it's a shame to see how rigid a large portion of society has become.

          You're taking my personal views way too personally. Ease up, I don't have a vendetta against you. I'm merely bringing forward a conflicting set of beliefs, and nothing else.. Geez, you don't have to tensed up all the time.

        • kheob on 16/03/2011 - 20:40
          -2

          I'm sure you (and most people) would agree that making light of such a tragedy is completely uncalled for. I understand that there are certain events where a little banter wouldn't hurt, but the occurrences in Japan at the moment are certainly not examples of these.

          I am not tense 'all the time'. I just didn't like how you belittled my views.

  • Bensoin on 15/03/2011 - 13:36
    +19

    Just went down a notch in my Asshole book… Good stuff, Telstra!

    • MattyD on 15/03/2011 - 14:27
      +29

      Keeping it in your pocket would be much more comfortable.

      Just sayin'.

      • mad__llama on 16/03/2011 - 00:38
        +2

        Would do wonders for the resale value too.

        Ain't nobody gonna wanna trade for that particular volume at the bookswap …

  • cmdwedge on 15/03/2011 - 13:51
    +3

    Very generous, Telstra, and an excellent initiative. Keep up the good work.

  • eddie3330 on 15/03/2011 - 14:15
    +1

    Good work telstra! Hope the other networks do the same!

  • issh on 15/03/2011 - 15:00
    +2

    Good on ya Telstra!!!!

    • MattyD on 15/03/2011 - 16:46
      +12

      err, probably not. Let's not molest the company extending goodwill to disaster victims, eh?

      • linnaen on 15/03/2011 - 16:52

        It was said with my tongue firmly in my cheek, however it IS Telstra.

        • MattyD on 15/03/2011 - 16:53
          +9

          My bad - yellow card for me. Sorry linnaen.

          But ease up on Telstra: even Darth Vader turned back to good before the end.

          Play on ;)

    • mxyzptik on 15/03/2011 - 17:22
      +1

      MattyD, judging by some of the outrageous/laughable bills I've received from them (& had credited after heaps of unpaid efforts by me) it would not surprise me if Telstra billed the Japanese service providers on March 26, covered by their terms & conditions ;)

      • MattyD on 15/03/2011 - 17:34

        Yeah maybe. But at 200+ positive votes it'd be sad to see this degenerate into a telco bashing because of past transgressions.

        I'm feelin' the love…

        • mxyzptik on 15/03/2011 - 20:53

          well i did + it …and they have made other improvements in the last 18 months since the government got stuck in.

          Hope they keep the love going :)

    • OzzyBrak on 17/03/2011 - 18:53

      Good idea, I don't know why it's voted down.

      Calls to Japan are cheap. Pennytel charge 2c per min to landlines and 15c to mobiles. It's purely a Telstra marketing exercise.

  • tae on 15/03/2011 - 16:49
    +16

    Bargain aside, Please do not exploit it. After the quake, all of Japanese communication are under heavy stress as anyone can imagine. Any call/internet access to Japan should be as brief as possible, so it won't hold up emergency access for Japanese local. Just my 2cents.

    • Cluster on 15/03/2011 - 20:09
      +1

      Good point. Also consider using SMS instead of a voice call. It uses a lot less bandwidth.

    • OzzyBrak on 17/03/2011 - 18:55
      +1

      Japan can just switch off international inbound calls or even request that Telstra restrict access if it becomes a serious problem.

  • mxyzptik on 15/03/2011 - 17:17
    +1

    Sol must be turning in his proverbial grave.

    (Someone should ask him to make a contribution.)

    • lazed on 15/03/2011 - 17:27

      Sol left Telstra years ago….

      • mxyzptik on 15/03/2011 - 17:28
        +3

        I know, with how many million, thank goodness

        he was an 'unacceptable face of capitalism' imho

        • lazed on 15/03/2011 - 17:33
          +1

          Well if his actions made you sick..most major American companies are run in a similar fashion… it's all about the bonuses baby…

        • mxyzptik on 15/03/2011 - 17:38
          +1

          The biggest transfer of wealth from poor to rich was the GFC bailout.

          They paid themselves bonuses before it, which they didnt deserve. And they are paying them again now. They hardly missed a beat.

          We're an apathetic bunch … don't people wonder where Goldman Sachs get their money/bonuses from - ie. you and me!

        • swimmingtoad on 16/03/2011 - 20:26

          It really wouldn't be very hard to stop bonuses at all, that IF shareholders ever actually turned up to annual meetings and voted as apart to throwing the letter in the bin and thus giving their vote to the managers to do whatever they want, whom just vote the way it suits them.

  • phluffed on 15/03/2011 - 17:28
    +11

    3 words I never thought I'd type:

    Well done Telstra.

    • mxyzptik on 15/03/2011 - 17:29

      Indeed.

  • [Deactivated] on 15/03/2011 - 17:31

    Verizon in the US are doing this also, props 2 telstra+

  • bendertiger on 15/03/2011 - 18:09

    Wow…and I came in here expecting people bleating stupidly that since they aren't calling Japan they will have to pay for everyone elses calls…

    • MattyD on 16/03/2011 - 00:24
      +2

      Okay I'm going to stand here right between your two posts wolfenator87, as a human shield.

      I've always wanted to know if I had the cojones to take a bullet for another, and you look like you've just donned a snuggie covered in targets.

      I'm taking wolfenator's negs ppl. Lay em on me: gimme your worst.

      • bendertiger on 16/03/2011 - 10:30

        I just voted postive on your comment :P

        • MattyD on 16/03/2011 - 11:37
          +3

          Well that wasn't very nice. Oh wait, yeah it was. Thanks, I think. For nothing?

          Since a +ve could mean either "props" or "screw your plan I don't roll like that", and a -ve could either mean "as you wish" or "what a chucklehead", the only thing I know for sure is that my short attention sp…

          Oh look, a bird.

      • MHLoppy on 16/03/2011 - 21:28
        +1

        Not really sure what you're on about (apart from those 2 posts being next to each other otherwise) but.. thanks? maybe? SQUIRREL! 8D

    • cwongtech on 15/03/2011 - 20:38
      +9

      What the hell is wrong with you?

    • Xanthorrhoea semipl… on 16/03/2011 - 17:58

      You are evil, wlfenator87.

      Japanese people are using diesel generators just to get some phone calls out and you are … 'prank calling'? Geez.

      • lsdbeta on 18/03/2011 - 03:53
        +1

        I'm probably a few days late but I'm almost certain they are using phones or internets to get phone calls out, and certainly not diesel generators.

  • bthaxor on 15/03/2011 - 20:04
    +3

    Absolutely props to Telstra for this. (L)

  • elcheapo on 15/03/2011 - 20:58
    +1

    OzBargain Members: 289

    votes: 262 ..

    go figure

    • pspman on 15/03/2011 - 21:09

      there are only 289 ozbargain members?

      what

      • Camw on 15/03/2011 - 21:16

        That is just a count of members on the site right now.

      • issh on 15/03/2011 - 21:37
        +1

        there are about 40000+ members

    • POWERevolution on 15/03/2011 - 21:34
      +7

      sigh… how can you make fun when others going through a hard time/ lost their love one?
      stay away from this pharmacist, can't trust him/her with the medications!

  • punk on 15/03/2011 - 21:36

    passed it onto my friends. thanks!

  • coolsteps on 15/03/2011 - 22:12

    i have a $2 telstra prepaid sim. will it work using telstra prepaid mobile to call japan free too and do i need to top it up with a recharge voucher before i can call japan free?

  • SupeNintendoChalmers on 15/03/2011 - 22:51
    +2

    only 180 or so + votes to beat the Cadbury deal. We can do it OB!

    • issh on 15/03/2011 - 23:23
      +2

      it's slowly creeping up to 480

      • POWERevolution on 16/03/2011 - 23:03

        not far away…only 74 more to beat that :)

        • issh on 18/03/2011 - 21:18

          Not far now
          27now

  • metho on 15/03/2011 - 23:21
    +2

    so generous!

  • Ashlea on 16/03/2011 - 03:13
    +2

    Can't believe I'm saying this: Go Telstra!

  • WaywardOne on 16/03/2011 - 08:19
    +1

    hahaha I am not terribly sure this is the best bargain this site has ever seen.
    1. It's only open to Telstra customers and they are only providing free phone calls to Japan
    2. If you were seriously concerned about a friend or relative, would a few dollars for call costs actually prevent you from making a call?
    3. If you regularly call Japan, you would already have a low-cost non-Telstra calling card or VoIP?
    4. The disaster would mean that telecommunications in Japan are probably already quite stressed - this will only worsen the situation?

    OK that's enough whinging from me :)

  • JepunK on 16/03/2011 - 10:09

    +1 for the team!!

  • Kkuba on 16/03/2011 - 10:58
    +4

    Wow, lots of negative voting on posts going on, bit of a hostile topic…

    good on telstra for doing this, and yeh it might actually put a chink in their profits, but i'm sure they can deal.

    My only concern was what Waywardone already mentioned:

    Similar situation to that of christchurch, "Only call if you absolutely need to, otherwise just SMS" or something along those lines, to stop the clog up of the telephone system. But, I guess the Australian population calling to Japan during this time, would be a very small proportion either way, so maybe not too much of a worry…

  • manbearpig on 16/03/2011 - 11:00
    +9

    Ok, so I worked for Telstra in an outbound call center (yes I was the guy everyone hated.. but really I'm a nice honest guy..) so EVERY day I got a lot of people on the phones complaining about how bad Telstra is, how their service sucks, how they're more expensive (legally they're not allowed to be cheaper than other providers), how they offer no benefits over other providers, blah blah I could go on.. (to be fair, I did hear the similar complaints about other providers too)

    Anyone who has worked in call centers or sales knows how the customer's frustration can make yourself frustrated with the company your working for, but it's times like this that Telstra actually do step up their game.

    They helped out during the Queensland floods as well. Telstra customers that were affected by the floods had calls to their landlines redirected for free to their mobile phones. No other provider did this. So it's good to see they're helping those who need to contact Japan as well, which includes myself.

  • niksrulz on 16/03/2011 - 11:14
    +3

    Its Really great to hear that Telstra is supporting it.
    Although I am not from japan But I Can really say that This is how a Big Public company differs from similar private company like Optus.
    Keep up the good work telstra and support the community.
    It must be a really hard time for all those who have their family there.
    May God Give you all the strength You need People..

    Note - Not associated with Telstra just Appreciating their Effort.

  • Xanthorrhoea semipl… on 16/03/2011 - 17:55
    +1

    Whao, 387 votes!

    Telstra should really read this.

    • uraha on 16/03/2011 - 18:14
      +3

      Nahh, other telco's should read this and follow telstra's lead

      • arcticmonkey on 16/03/2011 - 19:41
        +1

        Wonder if Vodafail will get on board.

        • niksrulz on 17/03/2011 - 11:18

          What's Vodafail hehe !!

  • bobsi18 on 16/03/2011 - 18:31
    +2

    I think this is brilliant, but at the same time, I hope it doesn't encourage people to ring people in Japan to just chat cos it's free - I'm sure the phone lines are needed for more important things atm.

    That said, some of my friends (over there) are pretty down on what's happening in their country (and rightly so), so maybe a good chat is what's needed right now for the sake of mental health.

    Either way, good work Telstra.

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