Four public phones in Warrnambool and two in Port Fairy now provide 30 minutes of free internet access to anyone, regardless if they are a Telstra customer. 

A purple box bearing a Wi-Fi symbol sits atop the public phone booths to easily identify where people can get online. 

In Warrnambool, public phones on Gilles, Lava, Henna and Koroit streets are now hot spots, as are booths in Griffiths and Sackville Streets in Port Fairy. 

Telstra area general manager Bill Mundy said the free trial was part of a nationwide roll-out of 1000 hot spots which mainly focused on holiday areas. 

He said it was the first step in the telco’s plan to build Australia’s largest Wi-Fi network. 

“By the end of the financial year 2000 hot spots will be online around the nation,” Mr Mundy said. 

“Over summer we are testing the network with 30 minutes’ free access for anyone. All we ask is they provide us with some feedback about where they would like to see the network expanded. 

“All people have to do is leave a message on the Warrnambool Telstra Store Facebook page.” 

Mr Mundy said the initial trial had proven popular in beachside locations and shopping strips. He said 270,000 people had logged onto the network and 30713 terabytes of data had been downloaded. 

“That’s the equivalent of three million Youtube videos,” he said. 

Mr Mundy said there was no set end date for the trial. Telstra plans to have two million Wi-Fi hotspots active in Australia within five years.