IT may be the best kept secret in town, but there are a number of locations in Port Douglas where free Wi-Fi is offered. It falls part of a program involving Douglas Shire Council and Telstra.

And a Telstra spokeswoman told Newsport it is now the norm where the telco and councils are working together to make this happen.

“Free Wi-Fi is becoming a sought after feature in many towns and cities across Australia,” said Rachel Cliffe, Area General Manager for Telstra in North Queensland.

“As part of our plan to expand the Telstra Air network and bring world class connectivity to the places where people live and work, we have partnered with several councils across the country, to provide a free public Wi-Fi service for residents at popular community locations.

“We continue to look for new partnerships where local Councils are interested in working with us to bring the benefits of free Wi-Fi to their communities. Through the Telstra Air network, eligible Telstra mobile and home broadband customers can already access free Wi-Fi data at eight Telstra Air public hotspots in Port Douglas.

“These hotspots are located in public phone boxes in Reef St, Macrossan St, Port Douglas Road and Mowbray St and are easily distinguishable by their pink roofs.”

A spokesman for DSC confirmed Council has been working with Telstra on this initiative.

Click the following link for the Port Douglas Telstra Air sites.

MEANWHILE, Cairns Mayor Bob Manning has met with Telstra CEO Andy Penn to discuss plans for further roll out of free public Wi-Fi across the region.

In the past six months, a partnership between Cairns Regional Council and Telstra has resulted in the expansion of the free community Wi-Fi network into the Tanks Arts Centre, Trinity Beach, Palm Cove and more parts of the Cairns Esplanade.

“When international visitors come to Cairns, they expect to be able to easily communicate with their family and friends back home. Part of being a modern tourist city is being able to meet these expectations.

“But we are also striving to be a smart city; one that meets the changing needs of our community and achieves the highest levels of connectivity. Telstra recognises these objectives and we are working together to achieve them,” said Mayor Manning.

And the Aurukun community will soon benefit from faster Internet after Telstra began work on a 133km underground optical fibre cable.The cable will improve service reliability and enable the provision of Telstra 4GX mobile services in the first half of 2017.