UPS experiment with public space Wi-Fi in 66 Chicagoland UPS Stores: UPS purchased Mailboxes Etc. in 2001 and rebranded some of them The UPS Store at the franchisees' option (see comment below which reflects an earlier state of this post). They are using Toshiba's turnkey hot spot system with the SurfHere network also operated by Toshiba handling the front end. The stores already have DSL or cable service, and won't initially require higher-end data connections. The company is segregating traffic, obviously with VLANs, to keep public and private data separate.
UPS plans to offer some free access in exchange for service upgrades. The cost of installing and running the network is almost certainly minimal with most of the costs upfront. SurfHere charges $4.95 an hour or $39.95 per month. I'm not aware of whether they roam or resell to other networks yet, but that will be a guarantee.
There are 3,000 UPS Stores or Mailboxes Etc. in the US and 1,000 outside the country. In the article, UPS is openly discussing a full-scale rollout based on the trial. It's a logical mix, given the nature of the stores: the perfect crossover of a business venue (like Kinko's) with customers who are likely to need this specific kind of access.
Dear Glenn Fleishman,
I read your article regarding WiFi in UPS stores and I find it very interesting. You are however very wrong about one major point. UPS OFFERED rebranding to MBE stores. Your article infers all stores have been rebranded when indeed that is NOT the case. Between the international and those domestically who chose not to rebrand you are looking at around 1400 remaining MBE's world-wide. Just thought, as a remaining MBE, I'd help you get your facts straight.
Kevin: I remember seeing ads on national TV not too long ago that suggested the whole chain was rebranding [and all the stores I am familiar with in my Southeastern Michigan area did become UPS Stores], so I can see why Glenn would think that.
Did many of your customers ask when you were gonna turn Brown? Just curious -- since this is a WiFi site and not a branding site, feel free not to answer.