There is no such thing as free airport wi-fi. It is just a
question of who pays to cover the cost of providing the service. You may have come across this site where they list airports that provide free Wi-Fi. Advertising and sponsorship may be a way on how airports can afford to provide it for free.
At an airport I visited recently, however, they changed back from free wi-fi to chargeable; even though they pay a substantial penalty to government for not providing the service for free. Obviously the revenue offsets the penalty by factors. In fact, at this airport, despite the passenger, everybody wins from this approach, including government.
As a passenger, I would expect this service to be free of charge. Yet, how to argue against additional revenue? What could be arguments for free wi-fi?
ASQ Rating
ASQ Survey results show that airports that charge for the use of wi-fi achieve lower satisfaction levels than airports which provide the service free of charge. This most likely reflects the fact that passengers are used to free wi-fi in other public spaces and do not appreciate the need to pay while at the airport.
Passenger Tracking
Using the existing wi-fi receivers at the airport, passenger locations can be determined. This allows to see where passengers congregate, how much time they spend in stores and restaurants and where there may be bottlenecks. With a more accurate picture of where passengers are and what they are doing in the airport, the retail spending could increase.
Do you have more arguments so that we convince airports in providing wi-fi for free?
At an airport I visited recently, however, they changed back from free wi-fi to chargeable; even though they pay a substantial penalty to government for not providing the service for free. Obviously the revenue offsets the penalty by factors. In fact, at this airport, despite the passenger, everybody wins from this approach, including government.
As a passenger, I would expect this service to be free of charge. Yet, how to argue against additional revenue? What could be arguments for free wi-fi?
ASQ Survey results show that airports that charge for the use of wi-fi achieve lower satisfaction levels than airports which provide the service free of charge. This most likely reflects the fact that passengers are used to free wi-fi in other public spaces and do not appreciate the need to pay while at the airport.
Passenger Tracking
Using the existing wi-fi receivers at the airport, passenger locations can be determined. This allows to see where passengers congregate, how much time they spend in stores and restaurants and where there may be bottlenecks. With a more accurate picture of where passengers are and what they are doing in the airport, the retail spending could increase.
Do you have more arguments so that we convince airports in providing wi-fi for free?
When faced with a crisis situation free wi-fi should help information sharing with passengers and stakeholders
ReplyDeleteFree WiFi at an airport is essential because while waiting for a flight, people can use internet so they may not get bored and can be in touch with their relations through internet.
ReplyDeletemeet and greet at stansted