(iTers News) - Telstra said it would create  a constellation of Wi-Fi networks in Australia as part of its US$100 million-plus strategy to increase wireless connectivity in the places such as cafes, shops, sports grounds and transport hubs in what the company said will eb the world's largest ever of its kind.

The strategy aims to enable all Australians, irrespective of whether they are a Telstra customer or not, to get an access to two million Wi-Fi hotspots across the nation over the next five years. Sheduled to launch early 2015, the network will also reach out of Asutralia to expand overseas allowing people to connect at more than 12 million international hotspots, as part of an exclusive deal recently concluded with global Wi-Fi provider, Fon.

Telstra CEO, David Thodey said that the plan would usher in a new era of Wi-Fi in Australia which would help meet current data needs and deliver future capacity for the explosion of traffic expected to be delivered over Wi-Fi.

“Australians already have access to one of the world’s leading mobile networks offering fast, unparalleled coverage on the move. Telstra’s new Wi-Fi network will broaden the choice of connection giving people a convenient way to get online using their portable devices when spending time at a hotspot. It will offer our customers the unique option to seamlessly use their home broadband allowance inside and outside the home.”

On the way toward that goal, Telstra will provide its home broadband customers new gateways that allow them to securely share a portion of their bandwidth with other Telstra Wi-Fi customers. In exchange they can access their own home broadband allowance at Telstra hotspots across the nation. The service carrier will also build more than 8000 Wi-Fi hotspots around the country to bring Wi-Fi internet to community areas and social precincts as well as shopping strips, business centres and transport hubs, while working with thousands of small businesses to bring Telstra Wi-Fi to cafes, shops and waiting rooms – putting them on the map as a destination where customers can connect.

It wil also join hands with councils, business enterprises and governments to bring Wi-Fi to parks, stadiums and public buildings and to help create smart cities. 

“We want Australia to be a truly connected country and as part of our plan, we are keen to work in partnership with local councils and enterprises to grow our Wi-Fi network in Australia’s largest cities and regional centres,” Mr Thodey said.

“The opportunities go beyond connecting people. The city-wide availability of Wi-Fi coupled with the growth in the internet of things can help us improve the way we live in cities. Town planning, sustainability, traffic management, maintenance, public safety and the provision of government services are just some of the challenges that can be tackled by connecting sensors and objects with networks. This is an incredible opportunity and we are already in discussions with a number of councils to make smart cities a reality.”

With the majority of portable device traffic now delivered over Wi-Fi in the home or via hotspots, Mr Thodey said all Australians would stand to benefit from the network.

“Today more than 20 million devices are connected to the mobile internet in Australia . This investment helps us connect the next 20 million and create an environment where our customers can read the news over breakfast at home, upload photos to Facebook while waiting for a train, check email between meetings at a local cafe and load match scores at the big game at night – all over Telstra Wi-Fi.”

“The network will be built by Telstra, but brought to life, in part, by our customers and we’re really looking forward to watching it grow. It will be a living community, steadily growing; house by house, street by street, business by business leveraging the capacity we continue to add to our core fibre network, as well as the NBN as it is rolled out to customers.”