I’m not sure I view WiFi as a right–in a capitalist country likes ours, you have the choice, as I do, to spend $60-80 per month for EVDO or another 3G wireless service to reduce your reliance on free WiFi hot spots. But providing free WiFi certainly should be viewed by corporations as a good business practice.

Here’s an example: the corporate Starbucks stores here in Anchorage offer WiFi for a fee. The locally-owned and operated Café Del Mundo (in addition to serving better coffee) provides free WiFi. Guess where I go?

And when I need to go somewhere and veg on the Internet (or work on homework) and I’m craving a burger, I’ll pick Chili’s over Red Robin because Chili’s has free WiFi.

(Now that I have an EVDO card, I’m not quite as choosy about where I go to eat or drink coffee–I can now eat at the Arctic Roadrunner and still have all of the modern conveniences (except they don’t take credit cards)–but EVDO is buggy enough that it’s still a factor.)

To elaborate on Chris’s example: I’m not sure you could argue that it is a God-given right to have plumbing or electricity. But if a hotel seriously did not have electric lights or a toilet, how many people do you think would stay there? These things are not things that should be legislated, but any company that did not provide these amenities would be shooting themselves in their feet.

Businesses need to realize that by not spending $50 per month on high-speed Internet and $50 on a cheap LinkSys wireless router from Best Buy, they’re potentially losing thousands of dollars of revenue each month. Granted, the infrastructure and access costs to provide WiFi at a 10-story hotel are higher than at a 2,000 square foot restaurant, but over the long run, enough people are going to make their choice based on the availability and cost of wireless (or even wired) networks that the investment would have paid for itself many times over. I’ll bet you Scott will gladly pick the Radisson over the Hilton next time he flies through Seattle (which is a lot). It always puzzles me why companies would NOT want to provide free wireless.

The Other Chris

Why stay at those fancy places that give you nothing? I pay less and get more.

While access may be a convenience it is hardly a “right”, especially when one realizes that entitlements demand a corresponding enslavement of those who are expected to provide those rights.

I am in favor of public space access but I believe that calling it a right is pandering to the culture of selfishness. Any and all genuine rights have their foundation in a moral authority as is cited in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are said to be God given rights that do not require a corresponding liability on our fellow man to provide for them. As Bejamin Franklin said: “The U.S. Constitution guarantees every American the right to the pursuit of happiness, but we must catch it for ourselves.”
GS

It’s amazing how many hotels still charge for network… and even more amazing is how many STILL only have wired internet access, not even WiFi….

I want to see more hotels and properties have it as a standard part of the package, not an add-on… (at the Marriott Prague, ’standard’ internet access works out to be around $30US per day, and that’s only 1.5 megabit maximum… if you want the ‘premium’ package, which guarantees 4.5 megabit, you’re looking at $90US per day! And this is on top of your regular room rate!)