Australia’s 15,076 public payphones will be free to use. Both local and national phone calls with be fee-free as part of the Telstra's payphone overhaul, as well as calls to Australian mobile phone numbers, with no restrictions other than a six-hour limit on phone calls.
Consumers will still have to pay to call overseas, however.
@0jay: I do appreciate being called by my first name, buddy is just so impersonal.
My memory is fine… I just don’t see what you’re getting at.
This is getting awfully petty so I’m just going to leave this where it is.
This is getting awfully petty
That's what happens when you have a go at people for a distraction.
I pointed out the line in question already if you can't follow a thread then best you do leave it there.
it's arguably more a matter of convenience than need for anyone in Aus 2021.
As someone who routinely works with vulnerable groups I can assure you that’s complete rubbish.
You're assuming (among other things)
As are you - repeatedly
I'd argue that's naive in the extreme.
I’d argue you’ve lost touch with the world outside of your own…
Free calls from public phones is not encouraging anything but sharing equipment that's necessarily held inches from an orifice that's the primary vector of transmission.
So don’t use one. While I have a fiery hatred for Telstra, providing more equitable access to basic communication services can only be a good thing. Telstra’s intentions are irrelevant.
You’re using the term “vector of transmission” incorrectly. The human is the vector, not the mouth as I presume you’re suggesting. Further to this, surface transmission is relatively uncommon. It’s all about droplets, baby.
You’re using the term “vector of transmission” incorrectly
A vector is also the course or means through which something is transmitted.
@0jay: Vectors are living organisms that can transmit infectious pathogens between humans, or from animals to humans. Your mouth is not a living organism - the big flabby mass it’s attached to is.
For example, mosquitoes are the vector for Dengue.
@0jay: I also work with vulnerable people and it never even occurred to me prior to that how essential phones are. Someone once spent their last dollar calling me asking for support when they became homeless. They had no money for even a bus ticket. I’m not sure how many people need to tell you that you are the naive one before you actually listen. I really couldn’t be bothered reading your million insightless comments defending yourself and your position, but I hope one day you realise OMG COVID doesn’t matter to people who are getting assaulted and are homeless. You think someone with no money is going to be able to source masks and sanitiser? If it was me, I’d be more worried about not being killed while I slept but you probably have far more idea what impacts homeless people, given everyone is naive but you.
If you're putting the side of your face / ear onto a door handle or hand rail, then you're doing it wrong. ;)
In rural areas that are almost entirely unaffected, using a public phone wouldn't be seen as much of an issue. In saying that, latex food prep gloves FTW!
The CEO announced it on Linkedin as well
That's where I go to see my news
More surprised he saw it, Linkedin likes showing me 2 week old company posts instead of new ones.
Its got that stupid fb algorithm, were it shows you only what it thinks you want to see.
This is going to make things easier for crooks; because it will be harder for Superman to find a vacant 'changeroom'.
('Wait your turn Clarke, I've still got 5.5 hours to go mate …')
needs phone or wifi to find nearest payphone
Seriously, since when we have became such a whinging society that even a nice gesture can draw negative feedback??
Amen.
Since BDL and Morrison decided to whine and blame and not take responsibility for anything.
People want to dig into the marketing side and such, as if a company isn't allowed to do something that is both nice, AND benneficial.
It's a strange world at the moment, people assume nice gestures have to be one sided; if it's mutually beneficial? OH IT'S EVIL!
Just the whole 'somebody is out to get me' mindset locked onto full-time for some.
Now all I want to see is someone with a mini office set-up (desk, laptop, etc..) inside a booth working an entire 6 hour shift, dialling into some conference or something
Will the person with the heavy vehicle traffic in the background please go on mute?
Oi boss, its a train, it'll only bother ya half hourly, keep goin.
If Telstra Public Payphones are still on the nature strip outside people's houses then some people might cancel their mobile?
Do public payphones display a phone number for call backs?
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/382306
If the Telstra Public Payphones are now free.. they wouldn't be payphones anymore but Freephones?
What do we call them now?
phone
is fine
I can be at a payphone trying to call home without spending all of my change? Where have the times gone?
Not quite right..
I'm at a payphone, trying to call home
All of my change I spent on you
Where have the times gone?
Well nah shit Sherlock it's not verbatim because they don't have to spend their change on payphones any longer?
Public phone?
Prank calls are gonna rise…
Seriously, how will they be able to stop this. I hope they have some system but it’s going to be hard to implement. Like many good ideas the devil is that some will find ways of diverting its intentions.
And what’s stopping the local drug lord from setting up deals from the anon phone booths.
Btw that doesn’t mean I think it’s a not a good idea. It is but there needs to be some thoughts on how it can be protected from abuse.
Is the local drug lord currently concerned about the 50 cents it costs to make a phone call?
Of course not, but since they lost their anon phones to the AFP and FBI etc , they might like the anon ability offered here 😀
Your points are very valid, but I'm edging on the idea that it's one of those risks that hopefully will never come to pass, just out of human behavior.
Kids these days, just set their phones to private, most have unlimited calls if they have their own mobile, so prank calls are hopefully 'stable'.
As for things like illegal trade;
if there was a significant risk to the buyer, then dropping 50c into a machine previously, to score whatever you were after, was probably already a perfectly suitable option.
You're totally right in theory, I'm just not convinced it'll be an issue in practice.
Also of interest, years ago when I was doing some work with AT&T (dating me a bit :P) payphones were only installed within sight of an intersection camera, or a 'public safety camera'. Any that are 'in the middle of nowhere' are probably very old locations (Late 80's-ish, before cameras were pennies to install and maintain).
tldr; you make good points; but I'm going out on faith to say they won't hit us hard though.
Good thing Delta can’t transmit when using Telstra pay phones
unless it's connected via 5G!!
this is a good idea both for them and the community. Having someone collect the coins probably cost more than what they'd get in coins.
This way, the community gets a free alternative for emergencies in exchange for Telstra getting a place to permanently advertise their brand.
Correct and with piggy banks every time it got money in it, it got raided. The damage caused that needed to be fixed, was more cost than the money lost.
Apparently they forecasted expenses of about $6m to collect and process $5m in coins.
Great PR spin by Telstra
I'll use the payphone to tip off detective, the one right outside where he was- I will tell him I am outside the building- then as the moment he approaches the phonebooth, he will be left to hear the dead tone and see the phone swinging - and I am gone.
hahahaahahahahah
What is my perfect crime? I break into Tiffany's at midnight. Do I go for the vault? No, I go for the chandelier, it's priceless. As I'm taking it down, a woman catches me. She tells me to stop. It's her father's business; she's Tiffany. I say no. We make love all night. In the morning the cops come, and I escape in one of their uniforms. I tell her to meet me in Mexico, but I go to Canada - I don't trust her. Besides, I like the cold. Thirty years later, I get a postcard: I have a son, and he's the chief of police. This is where the story gets interesting. I tell Tiffany to meet me in Paris, by the Trocadéro. She's been waiting for me all these years, she's never taken another lover. I don't care. I don't show up. I go to Berlin. That's where I stashed the chandelier.
I break into Tiffany's at midnight.
Question… are we talking about Tiffany the jewelry store or Tiffany's the brothel?
Dwight you ignorant slut! - Michael Scott, "Safety Training" in Season 3.
You are kidding. You have to be?
I guess it’s only ozbargainers who would be so cheap as to rush in to their local phone booth, risking Covid as you say, to save on their already free mobile phone. The only benefit being the energy costs on their phone recharge.
Yep I was one who gave you a neg vote 👏🏽
Call me skeptical, but here's my best guess on why Telstra is doing this (it's certainly not because they care about their customers)
You've definitely worked for a big corporate before. I think this is exactly what they're doing.
I can't remember the last time I even saw a pay phone. If there are remote communities that are genuinely still dependent on pay phones due to poor mobile coverage, it'd be a much better PR stunt for Telstra to patch those holes, IMO.
They already have been running the PR machine for getting remote communities connected: https://www.telstra.com.au/coverage-networks/mobile-black-sp…
They've been getting awesome feedback for it… and best of all the government covers a solid part of the cost, absolute win-win for everyone but the taxpayer
Joking aside, Telstra does genuinely seem to care about getting remote communities connected. A lot of top leadership from rural areas who see it as a great community effort, it's popular PR wise, and it extends the monopoly when it's shrinking everywhere else.
I can confirm this; when we contacted Telstra to request a 4G tower be built in Aurukun (FNQ), they basically were 'shocked' one wasn't there, and noticed it had been 'broken' (lightning strike) so long, the system had flagged it as abandoned.
Took less than 3 months from that point to have a whole tower, that would only service a community of 2000 to be built.
While their customer-level support is pure evil, their network planning team seems to know what's up.
Please get some facts right, before you apply some creative thinking:
• 15,000+ payphones around the country
• Around 11 million calls were made from payphones last year
• More than 230,000 calls last year were made to critical services like ‘000’ and Lifeline
With Andy Penn the marketer in charge, it's definitely not about care for customers :(
No not skeptical, creative, but on the wrong track.
So yes it’s profit, or less losses which also means more profit overall
All above based on inside knowledge from relo’s years ago.
The other factor is the advertising they get (either for themselves, or sold to others) in prime locations without paying any rent. Some councils are starting to pick up on this, so an action like this blunts the attack a bit.
It's like the NBN and the copper network all over again.
It's good to be skeptical, but this isn't the reason at all.
Not because Telstra wouldn't do that, but because they've already done it decades ago. Payphones have been a huge loss item since the early 2000s with mobile phones taking over, so they've already threatened to rip them out years ago to get governments and councils to chip in, which most did, and still do.
The real reason for doing this is because the revenue from PayPhones has dropped to the point where paying someone to collect coins (and repair broken-into/vandalized coin slots) no longer pays for itself. This will let them get rid of coins altogether, slowly transitioning to just using card readers to let people pay for profitable international calls with minimal backlash.
You have to realize that modern Telstra sees PayPhones as advertising boards… that also happens to make phone calls in order to justify their existence. The long term goal is to make them as cost-neutral as possible, while maximizing their value to local councils/governments to keep them there, and even potentially expand them (can already see that in motion with the JCDecaux deal).
This move is a fantastic push towards that goal. They can lower on-going maintenance costs, increase value to local councils/governments, increase engagement with booth ads, get a massive PR boost, and cement themselves as a quasi-government service all at the same time.
Andy has really outdone himself here
Yeah, more payphones would be good.
Before the pandemic, I was one of those people who went out with near empty pockets.
Just ID, some cash, and a card. So I couldn't lose my phone or get pick-pocketed in a moshpit, or even just break it (in said mosh pit).
The lines to use the payphones in any of the 'party subrubs' was rediculous. Many had the same idea as I have, but not enough phones to go around ><
It’s all a ploy to get Colin Farrell near one again.
Isn't it funny? You hear a phone ring and it could be anybody. But a ringing phone has to be answered, doesn't it?
Curiously, I wonder if young kids still have that compulsion.
There's a good chance it's learned behavior from landlines and they don't.
This might be showing my age, but we used to put a flattened straw into the change return and put a $2 coin in, the coin would pop out, and the credit would stay.
Better disinfect the crap out of it before calling anyone
Here is a link to the official post, I'm sure it'll be better to link that over the CM (even though you can bypass the CM paywall)
https://exchange.telstra.com.au/why-were-making-payphones-fr…
Glad these are free, a place we go on holidays has no coverage/WiFi but has Payphones, will be handy to keep in touch with family… when we can travel again…
Thanks, deal link updated.
do these mythical pay phones actually exist?
Looks like you can find them here: https://www.telstra.com.au/consumer-advice/payphones
Click on "Search for a payphone".
Make sure your adblock is turned off (I had my AdGuard on the first time and it gave me an error).
Is the SMS on these via T9 or do some of them have a qwerty-type of keyboard interface?
All T9 I believe.
T9, it's super quick with muscle memory, haha. :D
Thanks to Telstra, can now keep those muscle skills current :)
Woowho throwing out all my burners :)
I suspect that the average waiting time to get through to Centrelink will now be 6 hours and 15 minutes. The truth be known, nobody gets through to Centrelink anyway, on any medium. The free phone calls will be very handy for all the homeless people so a big credit to Telstra for that aspect alone.
Even if it's free, OZB will still complain.
Cool, I'll be able to hook up my modem to it and get free internet. Happy days!
Can you actually call to a payphone number in Australia?
Yes, I once picked up a ringing payphone. The guy on the other end of the line was bemused.
Telstra wont make these call free if actually it will benifit to Telstra it self. I think this has to be more related to government funding for maintaing payphones or to this (https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/telstra-to-lose-30…)
Kids these days will never know the joys of trying to rattle off "hey mum it's insert name call me back" at 60 syllables a second into the reverse charge name recording, trying to get a call back to sort a lift out from the mall.
Haha, that's what my husband and I were chatting about last night. "I'm at the train station now, come pick me up!"
Free COVID too
No one with a choice would use a public phone like this, especially with unlimited phone plans being quite affordable to most, so everyone whinging about COVID "concerns", fears of a wild increase in spam calls, people choosing to set up camp in a phone box to work (?), really seems to just object to the poor, homeless and remote having access to an inconvenient phone.
Can see it being used by people on a night out too, way too easy to have a dead phone and lose your friends. Can't even get home if you planned to call an uber at the end of the night too. Having this as an option, even if it's just to call mum/dad (because who remembers any other phone numbers these days) for a rescue, will be a great backup
Oh wow! This is brilliant. I remember getting lost as a kid on y first trip to Melbourne from the farm, and had to ask people for money to use a pay phone.
And do when I lost my phone on all those nights, stumbling home…
Are they going to increase sanitisation efforts for this riveting deal?
Yea, they are going to dig a hole to access the pit next to it so you can have a free crap. Just bring your own newspaper.
Tbh ittl be more useful if they were turned into thunder boxes.
yes they are going to hire 1 bloke in a van to cover cleaning all 15,000 of them after every call.
Will they introduce a name change too?
Australia’s 15,076 public payphones will be free to use.
So where are these 15,000 phones.. havent noticed one in decades…
What havent you walked into one when texting? Man you've never lived have you, then again probably been in lockdown so long you have forgotten. 😀 (Just joking)
Probably mostly in regional areas. There are still some here in Rockhampton. But i don't think any one even still uses it.
I've seen quite a few but they are generally around train stations over here. You'll find one in the wild or several a few metres from each other in the city.
Yeah because no one uses a phone box any more.
And who would stand at a phone box for 6 hours straight. Unless they drag their camping chair along to have a good sit for that long.
Can't wait to see the line in remote indigenous communities
11 million calls made last year, so on average just two per day per phone? How much was this costing to maintain, collect revenue etc? They say they'll lose $5million per year but what they're not saying is they were probably losing twice this prior to the change.
God I love corporate spin at it's best :)
@jackary:
You've professed to know a whole constellation of data above and beyond (and contrary to) a statement made by a stranger.