Councils appeal Telstra advertising bid on pay phone boxes

Brisbane and Melbourne councils are battling Telstra to stop public payphone boxes on city streets including digital advertising panels.

Telstra plans to install 1800 upgraded phone cabinets across Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. Picture: AAP

Brisbane and Melbourne councils are battling in Federal Court to prevent Telstra from being able to upgrade its suite of public payphone boxes on city streets to include digital advertising panels.

Telstra plans to install 1800 upgraded phone cabinets across Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.

The new design features a small panel above the phone and a larger panel, about 190cm diagonally, on the back.

The company plans to feature advertisements on the panels.

Several councils have challenged the plans, saying the changes to standard phone boxes meant they were no longer “low-impact” infrastructure and therefore needed to be approved by the councils’ planning departments.

Federal Court judge John O’Callaghan in March found against Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney councils, ruling the installation of the cabinets was authorised by the Telecommunications Act, which allows the construction of low-impact facilities.

The ruling permitted only the installation of the phone boxes bearing the panels, and for the digital panels to bear advertisements for Telstra products.

Separate permission would need to be sought by local auth­orities to run commercial ads.

Brisbane and Melbourne have appealed the decision, arguing the installation of the display cabinets, which feature a 76-inch screen, went beyond their low-impact definition.

At a hearing of the full court on Monday, barrister Tom Sullivan, who represented Brisbane and Melbourne councils, said Justice O’Callaghan’s decision was wrong because the cabinets were “intended to be used for the display of commercial advertising” and the judge’s ruling did not consider the intended “future use” of the infrastructure.

He said 76 appeals were before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal from Telstra, asking it to make a decision on whether it could feature advertisements on the newly installed boxes. “VCAT has in the past issued permits for similar advertising in Melbourne,” he said.

“Telstra is now armed with a decision from this court that each of these 81 cabinets (for Melbourne) is a low-impact facility.”

Barrister Stuart Morris, acting for Telstra, said legislation permitting installation of the low-impact infrastructure was for the public benefit and the phone boxes were regularly used, including for emergency calls. Any ad revenue the provider could generate helped to ensure their availability in future.