Euro.net vs USA.net
Recently I spent 10 days in Europe including traveling through some of the major airports ( JFK, Frankfort, Milan, Heathrow) and would you believe- ONLY in the USA do you need to Pay for Wifi. (FYI in the International Terminal in JFK I was able to get on to Boingo for free)
I was extremely impressed with the amount of free coverage or atleast sponsored coverage, (where I need to sit through a 15sec ad in order to get free access) that I was able to experience and stay in touch.
The USA is the leader of the FREE World, but not in connectivity! That is NOT Free!
In most of the towns, provinces and cities I visited- WiFi is considered a necessity and is easily accessible. Why not here? At one time- it was a potential revenue source- but access should be free in public areas.
On the ship- we had to pay- OK Satellite and limited access. But once on shore- La Dolce Vita!
If we are to stay competitive in the GLOBAL markets AND locally too- WiFi needs to be opened up to ALL.
Restrict certain URLs and keep it for email and safe surfing- There is no need to visit XXX sites when you are not in your own private space- but allow google, yahoo, itunes, etc to be freely accessible.
The more we are in touch with eachother- the smaller the world is and the closer we are to each other.
The Europeans dont do everything right or better than U.S.- but in this case we need to get on the same level-
PS THIS IS NOT A VOTE FOR GOVERNMENT SPONSORED MANAGEMENT FOR THE INTERNET!!
Providers beware- some one is going to do this- why not YOU! Talk about Brand Awareness and Community Outreach!!
Thats my opinion- whats yours?!
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Free? Not here in A-murr-ica when there’s a buck to be made. HOWEVER, there IS a middle ground between Absolutely Free (i.e. Gub-mint Regulated) and Sponsored.
I gotta ask: How did you feel about having to watch a 15-second pre-roll in order to get free access? Do you think most people would be cool with a 15 second pre-roll ad each time they logged into Wi-Fi? What about a 5-second ad?
I, for one, would have NO problem watching a brief (got that? BRIEF) advertisement. Annoying? Maybe a little. But less annoying than shelling out a monthly fee? Assuredly.
This then begs the question(s): How effective would that kind of advertising be? And what kinds of Brands would make good sponsors for that kind of service?
Comment by Slater — July 14, 2008 @ 2:48 pm
You know, the first time I was presented with the ‘offer’ I refused hoping to find a FREE hotspot- but when that ended up being a bust- I succumbed and sure’nuf the 15 sec was so quick and in one case so subtle as it occurred more like a pre-loader for getting access- I almost missed it.
Bottom Line- I think ALL of us would be willing to watch an Ad for 15 seconds in order to get 15 minutes of access.
The downside is- at the end of 15 minutes- you need to watch another- but thats only a problem if you have an unanticipated Lay-over or delay….
The sponsors I saw were somewhat travel / connectivity related-
Rental Cars, and BOINGO itself promoting the services- but If I were a betting man- more people in that scenario would be willing to get quick free access then spend $10 for an hour especially if there is < 1 hour of time there regardless if they can take the time with them to another Boingo hotspot…
Comment by Joe — July 14, 2008 @ 4:20 pm