To provide greater convenience for customers at outdoor events, Telstra and the National Australia Bank (NAB) have announced a joint initiative for the rapid deployment of ATMs at temporary locations.

By utilising wireless technology, there is no need to connect to physical communication lines.

NAB is seeking to leverage its investment in new ATMs by connecting to Telstra's Next G network for deployment at major sporting and cultural events across Australia.

Deals have already been secured for the Royal Melbourne Show in September this year followed by the Bathurst 1000 in Ocober, 2008.

This is also the Gold Coast Indy in October, the Moto GP (Phillip Island) in February, 2009 and the Avalon Air Show in March, 2009.

Telstra's group managing director of enterprise and government, David Thodey, described the initiative as innovative and said it follows a successful pilot earlier this year.

He said the pilot was undertaken at the Formula One Grand Prix and customer uptake was very high.

ATM providers are increasingly forming alliances working in partnership in the Australian market.

Only last month ATM services provider ITS inked a $A250 million, five year contract with Cashcard Australia through its parent company Armaguard.

Under the agreement, ITS will deliver 6000 Wincor Nixdorf ATMs as part of a national upgrade.

Wincor Nixdorf is the first ATM manufacturer to be accredited by the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) and Armaguard will become the first company to provide a single point of contact for hardware, software, cash management, along with complete line maintenance and relevant site security and alarm planning.

Australians rely on ATMs for over 72 million transactions each month.