Editor's Blog: Free the wi-fi

In today's blog silicon.com managing editor Will Sturgeon stands in for editor Tony Hallett.

In the last week you'll have noticed a lot of coverage on silicon.com about the problem of hotels charging for wireless internet access.

And it is a problem.

What's more, soon it won't just be a problem for business travellers, currently bearing the brunt and growing increasingly disenfranchised at the charges of major hotel chains. It will also be a problem for the hotels as we're hearing more and more that consumers are including internet access - and its pricing - as a key criteria when deciding on which hotels to book with.

We've highlighted some of the charges in an article published today, to give you an idea of the prices we're talking about.

In my opinion these charges are a rip-off. I refuse to believe all the revenue is being ploughed into providing the service, in fact I refuse to believe even 10 per cent, in the majority of cases, is going into providing a service that paying guests have a right to expect will be provided free, as part of the overall service covered by the room charge.

Postcards from the bleeding edge…

Read the latest missive from tech guru and silicon.com columnist, Peter Cochrane, as he blogs from around the world.

The hotel industry is run by smart people. They realise the value of loyalty and they are masters at taking your money off you while making you feel you are receiving good service and personal attention. But they are definitely missing a trick.

Part of the problem in some wi-fi implementations - though I'm not thinking of hotels here, many of which are a law unto themselves - is the use of a commercial third-party, meaning it is never possible to offer a service for free to paying guests.

We see today that the Heathrow Express will offer wi-fi to its passengers by next year. For just £5 per hour - on top of their already not inconsiderable £29 train fair - passengers will be able to go online during the (sometimes) 15 minute journey to Heathrow.

That's a couple of minutes starting up your PC and getting online and entering your login details to T-Mobile's landing page, 10 minutes of web access as the Heathrow Express hurtles through West London and then a couple of minutes shutting down your laptop and getting your stuff together before disembarking. (And then if you want to get full value for your £5 you'll have to find another T-Mobile hotspot within 23 hours, or lose it forever.)

That said, the Heathrow Express often seems to experience slowdowns (I'm thinking of my last journey which took around an hour). So perhaps that's when this wi-fi access will come into its own... even if you might still argue it shouldn't set you back £5.