Jim Calderbank, director of enterprise sales EMEA at Ruckus Wireless has made the following comments: “With the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets, access to the internet is no longer a luxury – it’s something that people expect wherever they are. For that reason, it seems ludicrous that travellers are still expected to pay for Wi-Fi access in hotels, when in most cases a short walk down the street is all it takes to get to the nearest free Wi-Fi hotspot.
“Hoteliers can no longer afford to ignore this demand for wireless access. Many are still concerned about the expense of rolling out a decent network, when actually this is no longer the case. There is a wealth of cost-effective solutions on the market that can deliver reliable coverage for a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions.
“While in the past, only a few guests would require access to Wi-Fi, the vast majority now have the devices to log on during their stay. As such, incorporating a small charge within the room rate as standard – rather than making one-off charges to an exasperated few – would easily remunerate hotels for the cost of rolling out a network and in turn, meet customers’ needs for ubiquitous Wi-Fi.”
Do you agree with David Rowan, or do you carry around your own 3G Dongle to make sure that you are always able to connect at an affordable level?
