Jupiter Media found that just 1 percent of online consumers polled recently had paid to use a public hotspot: Six percent have used public hotspots. The report is full of similarly sobering figures.
The report concludes a point that I think Michael Oh of NewburyOpen.net is proving, even though it's not his intention: hotspot operators will need to make money on something other than charging users for straight Internet access. Operators will need to realize internal productivity gains as well as third-party revenues--from services like Oh offers, such as printing--to get a return on the investments.
So a hotspot will make the most sense to an airline, for example, that builds a network in gates where employees can benefit and the general public might pay to use the network for special services.