Telephones

Fixed line telephone services are available from Telstra (the Australian phone company, formerly fully government owned) within the Alice Springs town area, and all calls within the town are charged at local rates. Calls to other Australian areas are at standard STD rates. All fixed line phones in Alice Springs have the 08 prefix and begin with 895.

Mobile services are available on the GSM network, within the town and to about 16km out. Outside this area the CDMA network provides coverage to CDMA subscribers who can roam onto the Telstra CDMA network, but is scheduled to be closed down in early 2008. Telstra is replacing CDMA with their Next-G network, but as of mid-2007 there are no roaming agreements with other carriers. Unless this changes non-Telstra subscribers will have no coverage outside the GSM area after the CDMA network closes.

Mail

Australia Post provides the mail service in Alice Springs. Depending on whether items travel by air or by road delivery times may vary between next day (to other Australian cities) to up to a week. For urgent items Australia Post and numerous private companies operate courier services which can guarantee fast delivery.

Internet

Most fixed line phone services in Alice Springs can be connected to standard (512kps) ADSL. Internode, based in Adelaide, are reliable and reasonably priced, but there are plenty of providers who can provide ADSL in Alice Springs. A good place to look for the best deals (and get an idea of reliability) is Whirlpool. There is no ADSL2+ in Alice Springs as of mid-2007.

For those out of the main town area the options are more limited. There is a wireless service run by a company called Hotspotzz which transmits from the top of the McDonnell Ranges south of town.