[Promotion-technology] public why-fie access

[Ed Meskys]

ITINERARIES. Free Wi-Fi, but Not for All.
By SUSAN STELLIN. The battle between free and paid wireless Internet access
is starting
to look like a draw. Or more accurately, a third variation is winning -- a
combination
of the two.
Travelers want to log on everywhere at no charge, while hotels, airports and
coffee
shops are looking for a way to pay for their Wi-Fi networks as visitors
increasingly
use greater amounts of bandwidth.
The compromise that is emerging is to offer both free and paid options, with
the
free services increasingly requiring something in return, like viewing an
advertisement
or signing up for a loyalty program.
Our position is, give the user a choice,' said David Blumenfeld, a senior
vice president
with JiWire, which publishes an online directory of free hotspots but also
sells
ads displayed on public Wi-Fi networks. It's not an argument about free
versus paid,'
he said. It's free and paid.
Starbucks is probably the biggest example of that model. In February, the
company
announced plans to switch to AT&T from T-Mobile as the Internet provider in
its 7,000
stores.
When AT&T takes over, customers who use their Starbucks card once a month
will get
two hours of free Wi-Fi access each day. Otherwise, that same time period
will cost
$3.99, or $19.99 for a monthly unlimited access plan.
Sanja Gould, a Starbucks spokeswoman, said the Wi-Fi users there typically
spend
an hour logged on. So, she said, the company views two hours of free access
as a
'meaningful benefit' for customers who buy a Starbucks card.
In other words, loyalty has its benefits -- and these days, free Internet
access
is one of them.
Omni Hotels, which used to offer free Wi-Fi, switched to a dual pricing
model about
18 months ago. Now, guests can get free in-room wireless access by signing
up for
Omni's Select Guest program, an option that appears on screen when guests
try to
log on.
The alternative is to go to the hotel's lobby, where wireless access is
free, or
pay $9.99 for 24 hours of in-room use.
Richard Tudgay, the company's vice president for technology, cited increased
Internet
use as the main reason for the change. We've gone from 12 percent of our
guests using
it in the beginning of 2003 to 46 percent in the beginning of 2008,' he
said, which
has required upgrading each hotel's network.
Now, two-thirds of Omni's Internet users decide to become members of the
Select Guest
program, while the other third pay for access.
Omni is a smaller hotel chain, so it is not clear whether this model will
spread
to larger chains. Companies like Marriott typically offer free Wi-Fi at
brands that
have lower room rates and fewer rooms, like its Courtyard by Marriott,
Residence
Inn and Fairfield Inn hotels, but charge for Internet access at the larger,
more
expensive brands.
When you're talking about a 1,000- or 1,500-room hotel, there are many more
complications
involved,' said John Wolf, a Marriott spokesman. The infrastructure is more
expensive
to install and more expensive to maintain.
Hotels also have greater costs associated with guests spending more time
online.
The typical Internet session is much shorter at cafes and airports, where
free or
ad-supported Wi-Fi is gaining more traction.
Denver International Airport switched from a paid to an ad-supported model
last November,
and has already seen use increase from 600 connections a day to more than
5,000.
Passengers who use the Wi-Fi are shown a 30-second ad when they log on.
Other ads
are displayed at the side of the screen throughout the session.
That ad revenue slightly exceeds what the airport used to earn from its
share of
user fees ($7.95 for 24 hours of access), according to Jim Winston, the
airport's
director for telecommunications.
Another caveat with Denver's free service is that the airport uses filtering
software
that blocks pornography, nudity, sexual content and Web sites that enable
anonymous
browsing. We just felt that we didn't want little Johnny sitting there
looking over
someone's shoulder and who knows what he might see,' Mr. Winston said.
Denver airport works with FreeFi Networks to offer ad-supported Internet
access,
and also plans to subsidize its technology costs with movie downloads.
FreeFi Networks has a deal with the Walt Disney Company to offer passengers
downloadable
movie rentals, but is waiting for a network upgrade before introducing that
service
in Denver. Richard Bogen, FreeFi's president, said he expected the cost
would be
as much as $7.99 for a 48-hour movie rental.
We want this to be a 15- to 20-minute download,' Mr. Bogen said, adding that
he believed
movie or game rentals would be crucial to make free Wi-Fi profitable for
airports.
McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, on the other hand, seems to
have found
other ways to subsidize the cost of its wireless network, which has been
free since
it was installed in early 2005. Samuel Ingalls, the airport's assistant
director
for information systems, said that the revenue the airport could earn from
user fees
was not significant enough to justify charging and that the payment process
itself
dissuades time-pressed passengers from going online.
It's not just that it costs money,' he said. It's also the hassle factor of
having
to sign on.
McCarran subsidizes its Wi-Fi costs with revenue from sponsored
battery-charging
stations and plans to display more advertising during Web sessions this
year. Mr.
Ingalls said he expected more airports to follow suit once their contracts
with fee-based
network providers expire.
One by one, I've been seeing many airports changing over to complimentary
Wi-Fi service,'
he said. And just sitting here off the top of my head, I can't think of one
that's
gone in the other direction.
. PHOTO: The Omni Berkshire Place on East 52nd Street in Manhattan offers
high-speed
Internet access in the lobby. (PHOTOGRAPH BY RUBY WASHINGTON/THE NEW YORK
TIMES)
.



Edmund R. Meskys
NIEKAS Publications
National Federation of the Blind of N.H.
Moultonboro Lions Club
edmeskys at localnet.com
322 Whittier Hwy
Moultonboro NH 03254-3627
my credo:
Clinton lied, nothing happened
Bush lied, thousands died
and over 3,000 permanently brain injured