Editing Telstra (section)

===Entertainment and content===

====BigPond Music====

[[MOG (online music)|MOG]], a subscription online music service and blog network, announced a partnership with Telstra offer their product in Australia – the first region outside of the United States to have access.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://exchange.telstra.com.au/2012/04/17/mog-powered-by-telstra-a-massive-deal-for-music-lovers/ |title=MOG powered by Telstra – A massive deal for music lovers &#124; Telstra Exchange |publisher=Exchange.telstra.com.au |access-date=10 February 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130427061107/http://exchange.telstra.com.au/2012/04/17/mog-powered-by-telstra-a-massive-deal-for-music-lovers/ |archive-date=27 April 2013 }}</ref> Telstra and MOG launched under the BigPond Music branding on 21 June 2012,<ref>[http://blog.mog.com/post.php?num=638184929] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629013437/http://blog.mog.com/post.php?num=638184929|date=29 June 2012}}</ref>   

====BigPond Games and GameArena====

GameArena was a website dedicated to [[video gaming]] operating under the BigPond brand that was managed by Mammoth Media and based on the east coast of Australia. The site provided news, downloads and servers primarily for the [[Personal computer|PC]], and [[Mac (computer)|Mac]], though it later branched out to include console sites. GameArena provided an online game shop GameNow, which sported various benefits to Telstra customers.<ref name="shop2">{{cite web |url=http://www.itwire.com/content/view/4702/127/ |title=ITWire – Telstra BigPond to sell PC games by download |access-date=27 February 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314191225/http://www.itwire.com/content/view/4702/127/ |archive-date=14 March 2008 }} ITWire article on GameNow</ref>

Usage of the GameArena file library, gaming servers and booking service were freely available to anyone, but provided specific advantages to Telstra customers such as preference in downloads and unmetered usage, as well as various bonuses in competitions. In 2005, GameArena went through a new shift with the merging of GameNow and Gameshop into itself. The name became simply BigPond GameArena.<ref name="shop">[http://pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php?id=976973335 GameNow to game on - demand] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926221857/http://pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php?id=976973335|date=26 September 2007}} PC World GameArena article</ref>

GameArena once operated over 100 gaming servers, which were monitored by a volunteer force of administrators, known as GameOps. ''GameCreate'' was a service offered free of charge where users may book a server for a specific game for a 2-hour period of time. This server was private and could be used for either ladder training or social events.<ref name="servers">{{cite web |url=http://www.gamearena.com.au/getconnected/servers/ |title=All Game Servers – BigPond GameArena |access-date=23 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203652/http://www.gamearena.com.au/getconnected/servers/ |archive-date=27 September 2007 }} GameArena list of servers</ref>

GameArena servers and its website closed on 20 October 2014.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.mcvpacific.com/news/read/telstra-confirms-it-is-closing-game-arena/0138403 | title = Telstra confirms it is closing Game Arena | date = 16 September 2014 | access-date = 30 June 2015 | publisher = MCV Pacific | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160305031538/http://www.mcvpacific.com/news/read/telstra-confirms-it-is-closing-game-arena/0138403 | archive-date = 5 March 2016 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

====The Pond in ''Second Life''====
Telstra BigPond owned and operated a number of virtual islands in the online game ''[[Second Life]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://my.bigpond.com/pond/secondlife |title=The Pond on Second Life |publisher=My.bigpond.com |access-date=23 November 2011 |archive-date=12 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012161833/http://my.bigpond.com/pond/secondlife/ |url-status=live }}</ref> for approximately three years. BigPond closed its ''Second Life'' presence in December 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/bigpond-pulls-plug-on-second-life-20091117-ijq2.html |first=Louisa | last=Hearn |title=BigPond pulls plug on Second Life |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=17 November 2009 |access-date=19 January 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100120164824/http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/bigpond-pulls-plug-on-second-life-20091117-ijq2.html| archive-date= 20 January 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref>

====Facebook====
In 2011, Telstra launched "Blurtl", a Facebook application that allows the user to leave audio messages on their Facebook walls.<ref>{{cite news|last=Harbison|first=Niall|title=Australian telecom company launches one of the smartest Facebook apps to date|url=https://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/05/31/australian-telecom-company-launches-one-of-the-smartest-facebook-apps-to-date/|access-date=5 October 2011|publisher=TNW|date=31 May 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901143151/http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2011/05/31/australian-telecom-company-launches-one-of-the-smartest-facebook-apps-to-date/|archive-date=1 September 2011}}</ref>

==== Payphones ====
In 2021, Telstra made its [[pay phone]]s free
* so that they can be used in emergencies
** for when [[mobile phones]] are out of service due fire, flood, storms, flat batteries, no nearby mobile tower, etc.
* declining use would have meant that the cost of collection exceeded the revenue anyhow
* for the benefit of people without a [[mobile phone]]
* good publicity