(AU) Telstra providing free calls from public phone boxes.

[Muttley Snickers]

Telstra has just announced that it will be providing free phone calls from public telephone boxes.   

This free service will apply to local, national and mobile phone numbers and have a six hour time limit on calls, overseas telephone calls will be charged normally. This will be extremely handy for all the homeless people so a big credit to Telstra for that aspect alone.



Why we’re making payphones free for calls around Australia
By Andrew Penn August 3, 2021

"I wanted to share the news that local and national calls to standard fixed line numbers and calls to standard Australian mobiles on Telstra’s public payphones are now free. This means any Australian can now use all of our 15,000 payphones on street corners and in the tiny towns, truck stops and airports in every corner of the country to make calls for free.

It’s an important moment, and I wanted to explain why we’ve done it.

Payphones have been part of Australia’s landscape since they were first used in the 1880’s and at one point – just before the arrival of mobiles – there were more than double the number that we have today. Since mobiles became nearly universal, a lot of Australians might not give them much thought. Until there’s a natural disaster. Until you’re in vulnerable circumstances, homeless or fleeing domestic violence. That’s why I decided it’s time to make payphones free. Because even in the age of the smartphone they play such a critical role in our community, particularly in times of need, and particularly for those in need.

I’ve seen myself how much payphones are part of the fabric of Australia and how important they are in good times, and bad. I’ve seen queues of people waiting in line, coins at the ready, to use a payphone to call home and tell their family and friends they’re safe after a bushfire, a cyclone or some other natural disaster has taken the mobile network down.

I know payphones are also a lifeline for thousands of vulnerable Australians – the homeless, the isolated, those escaping domestic violence – and often provide their only link to critical support services and those that care about them. Last year alone Australians made 11 million calls on payphones, including more than 230,000 calls to vital services like Triple Zero, so there’s no doubt payphones are already often the lifeline that’s there when it’s needed most.

Telstra’s purpose is to build a connected future so everyone can thrive. To deliver on this ambition we want to contribute to a better, more caring and more inclusive Australia, an Australia where people can reach out for help if and when they need to, or just connect if they feel like it. The payphone network that we’ve been maintaining since the 1880s is a key part of that, and I’m delighted it’s now free for everyone to make calls anywhere in Australia."

Telstra Announcement

Courier Mail Article

Ozbargain Discussion

[Ed.Kloonk]

[johnboxall]

Nice one Telstra. Then again, probably cost more to collect the coins than was received in cash revenue.

As an aside, the old dial payphones from my childhood had that big button below the coin warning lamp. What was that button for?

[edit] Answered, from https://whrl.pl/Rfii4l

Collect Button
Both CT3 and CT3(1) allow users to make operator assisted calls. Coins are inserted under instruction from the operator and tones sent forward from the telephone allow the operator to count the money deposited. When the required amount is deposited the operator instructs the user to press the coin collect button.
The coins drop to the coin tin and a collect tone is sent to the operator. On receipt of this tone the operator connects the call through.
In the older type of coin telephones it was necessary to operate the collect button on local calls when the called party answered. Unfortunately, many users carried this practice of pressing the collect button on answer to local and STD calls from CT3. If the user presses the collect button of a CT3 at answer, but before receipt of the answer meter pulse, the call will be force released because no coins will be held in the mechanisms when the answer meter pulse is received. In addition, the user loses all coins deposited in the instrument which is especially annoying if a number of coins have been inserted for an STD call.
To overcome this misoperation, a dial pulse analyser in CT3(I) checks that an operator code (01) is dialled before allowing the collect button to be effective. This analyser facility can be strapped out in the few instances where CT3{I) is connected to exchanges with operator prefixes other than 01, and in these instances the collect button will be effective only until CIS or an answer meter pulse is received.

[Circlotron]

Ahhh... the CT3. Case designed by Chubb. The four conductors in the handset cord are stranded steel identical to the handbrake cables on a bicycle. Plenty strong enough to tow an entire telephone booth off it's foundations and down the street.

[wilfred]

Does this mean the unused credit on my old phonecard is useless to me now?

Still, 6 hours means it's still no good for calling Centerlink.

[Muttley Snickers]

Does this mean the unused credit on my old phonecard is useless to me now?

Still, 6 hours means it's still no good for calling Centerlink.

That's exactly what I said on Ozbargain, I don't know whether 13 or 1300 numbers are included and couldn't find any mention about them anywhere. I can only assume they are included as most government departments and other agencies are all 13 numbers, there is a public phone around the corner from me so I might go for a walk tomorrow and test it out.   

[RoGeorge]

Phone booths you say?   
https://youtu.be/EbmQxZkSswI