Eat and surf the Web at McDonalds

Telstra's partnership with McDonalds offers customers wireless broadband Internet access at a selected 44 restaurants across Australia.

McDonald's CEO, Guy Russo, said the Telstra wireless hotspots will enable customers to work online using their own laptop or a personal digital assistant (PDA) at McDonalds restaurants.

"Many of our customers are business people on the move and we see this partnership with Telstra as leading the way and anticipating the future communication needs of our customers," Russo said.

Telstra chief of products, Lynda O'Grady, said the partnership demonstrated Telstra's commitment to providing a network of hotspots at convenient locations around Australia and internationally through the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA).

"We are delighted to work with McDonalds to provide Australians with the latest in wireless communications enabling them to significantly improve their productivity or simply to log on, check e-mails or surf the net when it suits them," she said.

Telstra's long standing relationship with McDonalds prompted the telecommunications carrier to take the next step and install wireless hotspots in the restaurants. So far, Telstra has no plans to expand this project into other fast food chains in the country. The payment method and price range for the use of the hotspots will also be disclosed later on.

Telstra Wireless Hotspots are available in selected McDonald's restaurants in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The partnership between Telstra and McDonald's will ultimately give wireless broadband Internet access to customers at approximately 500 locations Australia-wide within the next 12 to 18 months.