B.T.W

By Eileen Yu

By the way, ZDNet Asia has more to say

But Mr Concierge, step outside and it's free!

Posted in By The Way by Eileen Yu on Monday, February 05 2007 12:08 PM

weekly roundup This week, ZDNet Asia's sister site, Silicon.com, kicked off a campaign in the U.K. to lobby for the hotel industry to provide better Internet services and at less exorbitant prices.

Through its "Fair Wi-Fi Campaign", Silicon.com is hoping to highlight the problem of hotels handling business travelers like "cash cows" and to garner support from the public and other industry players.

David Laurie, CEO of ISP Madasafish, gave his seal of approval: "It seems hotels within the U.K. are determined to maximize profit rather than permit guests to benefit from improvements in [broadband] cost, accessibility, speed and connectivity." Ben Booth, CTO of market researcher Ipsos, also suggests that �5 (US$9.8) per day is all he's willing to pay.

Frankly, if it wasn't for the campaign, I would have thought nothing of forking out between US$10 and US$20 a day--only because that's what I've become accustomed to paying when I travel to the U.S. or Europe for work. In fact, I paid 11.99 euros (US$15.5) per day for Wi-Fi access at a hotel in Barcelona, Spain, in February last year.

At the rates they're charging, it's clear some hotels still view the provision of broadband connection as a premium service. But, if they persist with that perception, they'll definitely run out of favor as a rest-stop for business travelers.

In the corporate world today, people no longer ask if a company has e-mail or Internet access--just like they no longer ask if there's electricity or water in an office building.

When businesses realize that they're paying exorbitant charges for Internet connection every time their employees travel for work, they'll start looking for hotels where such services are available for free or at a more reasonable rate. And those that insist on ripping off their guests will be left with empty rooms.

Besides, with the growing number of public hotspots offering free wireless access these days, guests only need to step outside the hotel if they want to avoid paying hefty Internet access fees.

How much are you willing to pay for broadband connection at a hotel?

In other news this week, Asian companies look deeper into outsourcing while NetApp turns to the world's second most populous nation for engineering talent. Also, Dell Computer welcomes back its namesake, and floppies finally run out of steam at one U.K. retailer.

Disclaimer:
Views and opinions expressed in this blog are the author's, and do not necessarily represent those of ZDNet Asia.

Talkback 3 comments

Free, of course. Or, the most US$5.00...
Posted by Roland Chung on Monday, February 05 2007 02:54 PM

No more than US$ 5.00 per day
Posted by Alisdair McKenzie on Monday, February 05 2007 02:55 PM

Dear Eileen,

The UK is renowned for its rip offs and the name of the game over there is Charge as much for your product or service that you can get away with. This is one reason that I have lived in Asia for the last 20 years. I dont mind paying a small charge, but in many hotels in China, broadband service is free and the same goes for Singapore. Even at hotels which charge for broadband in Singapore, the rates are reasonable. I think that I paid about S$10 for 24 hours the last time I was there. In Adelaide, Australia, the hotel wanted an arm and a leg for broadband service, so I didnt bother and took my laptop out into a cafe where there was free wireless access.

It would be so easy for hotels in the UK to hide the broadband charge in the room price, but they like to be aggressive with their attitudes to their guests - In your face is the American expression. Its just another facet of the service industry in the UK and its lack of courtesy, and before you ask, Im British, and have experienced this at first hand and in many hotels.

Another reason that rooms and services are so expensive in the UK is that hotels gear their charges towards commercial travellers, who reclaim all their expenses from their companies.

What the world really needs is the Wi-Max or Wi-Fi equivalent of Skype pay one fee and use it anywhere. That would make the rip-off hotels sit up and take notice. Depending on my international telephone call needs, I sometimes succumb to their outrageous broadband charges so that I can make international calls at a reasonable rate through Skype, and of course, I can video-conference with my colleagues and friends.

Thank you for the article. Its time someone wrote about the way us travelling internet users are ripped off. Lets hope that youve started a trend and the hotels will get the message.

Regards,

Bob Hayden-Gilbert
Bangkok, Thailand
Posted by Bob Hayden-Gilbert on Monday, February 05 2007 05:22 PM

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About the blogger

Eileen Yu

Eileen Yu began covering the IT industry when Asynchronous Transfer Mode was still hip and e-commerce was the new buzzword. These days, she gets stirred up over issues concerning Internet regulation, intellectual property rights and software patents, online privacy and data protection. Eileen is senior editor at ZDNet Asia, where she oversees the business tech news site.