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Another nail in the retail fee model for Wi-Fi hot spots: I know there are arguments to be made on both sides, but it may be hard to charge for Wi-Fi in cafes and retail establishments (see my quote in this article, in fact) when free alternatives abound.
There may be reasons to pay, among those the fact that it’s “free” for you because you’ve already bought an unlimited monthly subscription to use hot spots and wired broadband in hotels and airports as you travel. Or, because you prefer a venue, and cost isn’t an issue versus location.
Take a mall, for instance: if there’s an Apple Store in the mall, you get free Wi-Fi. So you take your latte and sit on a bench near the store instead of paying to use T-Mobile’s service at a Starbucks. And so on.
The future of non-captive venues where leaking signals and dense adjacent stores is questionable except that with more subscribers, for-fee because de facto free. That is, if you pay for the airports, you get the coffee shops “for free” and this issue disappears.
Posted by Glennf at August 30, 2003 10:10 PM
Categories: Hot Spot
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Valet parking at hospitals? There's an urban legend I hadn't heard. Maybe in Houston? For what it's worth, my local hospital doesn't offer wi-fi either, or didn't six months ago when I spent a long night waiting for my sister's twins to be born.
Posted by: Shelly Brisbin at September 2, 2003 10:47 AM
Wayport and Mobilestar all started in Texas I seem to recalll. So yes, you are a special case. You may be ahead of the curve AND have valet parking at your hospital's, but the rest of us are playing catch up!
Cheers Nigel
Posted by: Nigel Ballard at September 2, 2003 9:10 AM
Free wi-fi? A new trend? Hardly. Here in Austin, Texas, coffee shops and a lot of odder businesses (Mexican restaurants and at least one movie theater) have offered free wi-fi for more than 18 months. In fact, many proprieters of local businesses around here have kicked their previous hot spot providers to the curb in favor of providing free access.
I've heard three reasons for providing free wi-fi; the hassle of dealing with unreliable hot spot providers, customers who feel access prices are too high, and last, but certainly not east, the customer retention benefits of providing Internet access. Free wi-fi is so much a way of life here that I resent having to pay for it when I travel. Is Austin really that unique? Are folks who do their surfing in chain outlets really so much more free with their dollars? My guess is that providing wi-fi on a chainwide basis, as the large coffee and hamburger emporia have attempted to do, imposes a noticeable bottom line cost, which the company must justify and recoup. A small businessperson, after all, may already have a DSL or cable Internet connection in the office, and can simply choose to share it by adding an access point in the store.
Posted by: Shelly Brrisbin at September 2, 2003 8:47 AM
Exactly!
Hotspot at "non-captive" locations (coffee shops, stores...etc.) are insane IMO. I can go anywhere in the city here and find an open AP to use...
Dorian
Posted by: Dorian at August 31, 2003 10:46 PM
A great piece of editorial, and he's right on the money, or lack thereof.
How can you charge anything when they guy across the road is giving it away? You can't, well not for long. A T-1 isn't enough of a draw in the fee vs free race.
Cheers Nigel
Posted by: Nigel Ballard at August 31, 2003 8:10 AM