TELSTRA is sponsoring six months of newspaper subscriptions on the iPad for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald readers in a mutually beneficial relationship that promotes Telstra's mobile network and Fairfax Media's new product.

After the sponsorship period, readers will have to pay about $9 a month for daily iPad-specific editions.

The Age iPad app.

Giving readers a free trial will garner more users and generate more feedback about the application, the head of Fairfax's metropolian media division, Jack Matthews, said last week.

''If you have a price on something the feedback is not as useful," Mr Matthews said.