For all the business travelers, meeting planners and hotel and convention properties, there is a revenue stream in providing HSIA (or high speed internet access) inside the meeting room area, lobby or public areas and guestrooms. Providing internet access has become a big game for internet service providers and this article will give you an inside look to the game.
Lets cover the basics, internet access in the hotel to the public essentially covers three areas which are guestrooms, lobby or public areas and meeting room convention type space. A single property can have three different carriers for each area of internet access. Here is an example:
Guest Room HSIA - provided by Company XYZ
Public/Lobby HSIA - provided by Company ABC
Meeting Room HSIA - provided by Company 123
Other times, it can be a combination where Company XYZ can provide service to guest rooms and meeting room space but not public areas or they can provide all three. With this being said, it can become confusing for you, the end user because at times, you will be frustrated with the support as no one will take responsibility and you may have to pay twice for internet access.
I honestly think internet access should be given away for free or better software should be written so that it is a seamless experience for end users. Either way, with better software, better servers, these service providers and hotel convention properties can probably earn revenue through advertisements such as pop ups, browser integration with a ticker ad, etc.
If I were a guest and had to pay $9.95 for a day of internet in the guest room or paying $250.00 for internet access in the meeting room, shouldn’t I get access to ESPN Insider with that?
This is Part 1 of a series that will chronicle the internet access inside hotel convention properties.
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