WiFi Tough Sell In the US

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/business/04soff.html?ei=5090&amp;en=147e5e54c6b76d05&amp;ex=1286078400&amp;partner=rssuserland&amp;emc=rss&amp;pagewanted=print">http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/business/04soff.html?ei=5090&amp;en=147e5e54c6b76d05&amp;ex=1286078400&amp;partner=rssuserland&amp;emc=rss&amp;pagewanted=print</a><br /><br />With WiFi rates near $10 per hour, it is laughable to expect most people, or even a few, to use it.<br /><br /><i>"Do the math," said Terry Wiseman, an expert on in-flight technology. "If the technology were there just for the benefit of passengers, the numbers just wouldn't add up." He is right. To the estimated $500,000 to $600,000 it will cost to fit a plane with wireless technology, add the revenue lost in the two weeks the installation will keep the aircraft on the ground. And the current systems are heavy, causing the planes to consume more fuel. With demand for the service estimated to be about 20 percent of all passengers, Mr. Wiseman and other industry watchers say it will be impossible for airlines to squeeze a profit out of onboard Wi-Fi, at least in the early days."</i><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2005/20051004-flying.gif" /><br />Twenty percent usage at $10/hr? :rotfl: Forget that. Just do what I do. Before leaving, I simply <a href="http://www.onzin.nl/internetdownload/">download the internet to my laptop</a> for offline viewing. There is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/business/04boeing.html?ei=5090&en=67481c073c0a0f8e&ex=1286078400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print">another article on WiFi in the air here</a>.

[OSUKid7]

I say Google needs to buy an airline (they're going cheap with these bankruptcies, right? ;)) and offer their free WiFi on planes. :lol:

Realistically, I'd rather pay a one-time fee for the entire flight.

[jgalindo]

I downloaded the Interenet. Great Software!

[Paragon]

Wait a second, here...somthin' ain't right in Dodge! Mr. Wiseman's figures seem a tad out of wack!

First, a half a million dollars to install a receiver and an access point or two. I realize this equipment isn't exactly off the shelf....but half a million bucks! Secondly, two week to install? These guys change a motor overnight...two weeks? Third, the equipment is so heavy it has a significant impact on fuel use? My neighbor has a four foot satellite dish and it weighs about as much as my eleven year old son, add in a couple of access points....geez I don't know. I've sat beside some pretty fat guys on airplanes that didn't have to pay extra because of the high fuel costs.

I think WiFi onboard airplanes is a great idea, but not at overblown costs.

Dave

[Ed Hansberry]

A 4ft satellite dish doesn't have two way broadband speeds to support potentially 25-50 people simultaneously while their chairs are moving at 550 mph.

I am not defending the cost calc, but neither will I entertain the notion that this hardware is off the shelf stuff people have at home.

[Paragon]

I realize this equipment isn't exactly off the shelf.


:)

[PetiteFlower]

You know, I put that I wouldn't care about wifi on a plane...and that's true for all the flights I've ever taken. The furthest I've ever flown was from Philly to Minneapolis, it was maybe 3-4 hours? But I realized that if I ever end up on a LONG flight, to Europe or Israel or someplace where I'd need to be on the plane for 8-10 hours or more, an extra $25 tacked on to my ticket price might be worth it just to be able to stave off the boredom and claustrophobia that a long flight would induce.

Have I mentioned I HATE flying?

[rbrome]

My business takes place completely online, and depends on me being online at nearly all times.

When I fly domestically during the day, it really is worth $50 or more for me to be online - for business, not entertainment, of course. If I take an evening flight, it's not as big of a deal.

Then there are international flights... where I would easily pay quite a bit to be online if it's a weekday, eastbound flight. Flying overseas eastbound means missing a whole workday no matter how you cut it. And I can't sleep in coach without the help of drugs, (which I try to avoid,) so even flying westbound without Internet means a day lost, even on a redeye.

So for international, having Internet is worth a lot to me. If I calculated the business cost, it would be a well over $200 per flight.

What Lufthansa charges is $10 USD for 30 minutes, or $20 for flights shorter than 6 hours, or $30 for flights six hours or greater. That's totally reasonable for the business person that *needs* it, and business travellers are the only market where airlines make profits anyway.

Thinking that this is aimed at average vacationers is just silly. It's not.

...which is why I think the survey is fundamentally flawed. The creator just assumed that current charges are too expensive. I think it's irresponsible to not at least ask if (business) people would be willing to pay what is currently being charged.

[Mark Johnson]

I've always been a bit puzzled at how the Starbucks/T-Mobiles of the world think people will "get used to" these high WiFi rates. If your local coffee shop decided that air conditioning or bathrooms were "premium features" people should pay for, you'd just laugh and go to another coffee shop. If you are the owner of Joe's Coffee Shop, it's so amazingly easy and cheap to put in a DSL line and WiFi access point and just open it, I expect many businesses will be happy to do that to undercut Starbucks and bring in customers. Why not? All you'd be "out" is less than a hundred bucks in equipment and less than half that in monthly access!

It's true that on-board airliner use is a different model, but eventually it'll be the same. One day (in the not to far distant future) Southwest or United will make free WiFi standard on their flights just to pull in customers. And then the game is over.

Be it on a plane, in your hotel, or at your local coffee shop, the "pay per use" WiFi model will eventually be viewed by the public as a sign that you've accidentally walked through the doors of a place you won't be patronizing in the future. You just won't go back again. It'll take awhile to get there, but it's inevitable.

[Sven Johannsen]

What Lufthansa charges is $10 USD for 30 minutes, or $20 for flights shorter than 6 hours, or $30 for flights six hours or greater.

It amazes me that Boeing seems to think that they have something unique and new, and we don't know it already exists. I voted flat rate, but I have no problems with Lufthansa's pricing, I can't imagine paying the $10 for 30 minutes, but the $20-$30 are reasonable for the flight. I regularly shell out $10 for a 24hr period in hotels, though usage may actually be only a couple of hours.

Should be free in Business and 1st class though, if you've ever priced those tickets. They do need to get more power outlets back in cattle class though.

Not sure what the issue with Starbucks/T-mobile above is. It's not really Starbucks, but rather T-Mobile's service. It's $20-$30 a month for unlimited access at any of their HotSpots. Sure you can get it free at Joes Coffee Bar, but Joe's isn't at the airport, the book store, starbucks, many hotels, etc.

[Damion Chaplin]

Be it on a plane, in your hotel, or at your local coffee shop, the "pay per use" WiFi model will eventually be viewed by the public as a sign that you've accidentally walked through the doors of a place you won't be patronizing in the future. You just won't go back again. It'll take awhile to get there, but it's inevitable.

I agree. When given a choice between coffee shop A that has pay-per-use WiFi and coffee shop B accross the street that offers free WiFi, which do you think I'm gonna walk into? It's not Starbucks. I love the fact that the movie theater right accross the street from our local Starbucks just started offering free WiFi. I can access both signals from here. Even easier than choosing a coffee shop is choosing between a free signal and a not-free signal.

That being said, I voted for $2 an hour. Most hotels these days charge $1.95 an hour for access in your room. I find that pretty reasonable. You can do a lot on the internet in an hour - in fact, I usually don't need the full hour.

Better yet, why don't they let me just use my cell phone connection? Just let me pay a simple $2-5 per flight surcharge for using their antenna and forget retrofitting those planes...

P.S. - option 6 should say 'I couldn't care less...' Sorry :roll: