Airport net access: The weak link

The Internet is everywhere – except where we need it.

Consider the airport terminal. A couple of years ago, the bank of public phones in its waiting area helped us make all the right connections. We could catch up on voice mail, phone a contact or call a ride.

Now there’s e-mail, and unless you want to carry a clunky acoustic coupler around with you, those phones are about as useful as a telegraph machine on a T1 line. You need a place to plug in your Ethernet or phone chord.

A lot of airports claim to be wired, but it’s difficult to determine what they mean. Do they offer Internet access to all of their passengers – or just to their card-carrying frequent fliers? Should you expect a phone jack on every corner – or a solitary Internet kiosk in the food court? Or, worse yet, do they just mean that the airport has a cool Web site?

This is hardly the time for a communication problem. The pundits continue to predict that the ‘Net will grow at an exponential rate during the next decade. One recent study by Ovum Inc. pegged the number of worldwide Internet users at 500 million by 2005. The researchers also warned of bigger user and capacity shortages, noting that the international Internet backbone is on the verge of collapse.

Jonathan Gaffney, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, admits there’s a shortage of Internet connections at Washington’s Dulles International Airport, though not on quite as dramatic a scale as the Ovum report might suggest. “We need to better meet the needs of our passengers,” he told me. “Internet connections are one of the constant concerns here. We’re looking into ways to address it.”

The folks calling the shots at America’s airports are bracing for a surge in Internet access demand from their passengers, according to Joan Lowden, a spokeswoman for the American Association of Airport Executives in Washington, DC. “They’re all moving in the direction of offering more [Internet] access,” she says.

But it’s slow going.

Take San Jose International Airport, which is considered one of the most technologically advanced airports in the United States. As far as public Internet access, SJC offered four kiosks, but they were recently removed because they weren’t working right. Next month, authorities are installing a first-of-its kind kiosk that can be accessed by blind passengers.

“Will it be enough?” asks Egan Schulz, an airport marketing specialist. “No. There’s definitely a call for more connectivity.”

How and when we’ll get that connectivity is uncertain. Airports are trying answer the demand for bandwidth in several ways:

The wired elite. I won’t bother making the distinction between airport and airline, because it makes little difference to the traveler. If you belong to one of the red carpet admirals’ clubs, Internet access is often a given. The carriers offer their best customers the high-speed connections they need. Which is all well and good, except that most of us can’t get into the clubs and are left to fend for ourselves in the common waiting are.

The business center. Many major airports have installed business centers with printers, computers and, yes, Internet access. Once again, I won’t differentiate from the airport and the private vendor that often operates the center, because passengers don’t give a damn. What they do give a damn about is not missing their flight. They’d like the jack a little closer to their departure gate, thank you very much.

The mysterious monolith. Otherwise known as the Internet kiosk. Some of them let you plug your modem in, others force you to use their terminal (and watch their advertisements) while you try to check e-mail or a stock quote. What’s more, these Internet booths are rare, they’re far away from your departure gate, and you’re never quite sure how much they cost. I think these devices could meet many of our Internet needs if we could only find them.

The easiest solution, of course, is to not bother checking electronic mail while you’re in transit. The tourist crowd might be able to get away with that approach. Business travelers aren’t as fortunate.

On my last trip I couldn’t help but notice the frustrated expressions on the faces of the briefcase-toting passengers who, in a final act of desperation, would line up in front of the phones to get what business they could done by voice. I sensed their agony. The idea that a very important message is waiting for them, if only they could log on to the ‘Net, must drive corporate travelers bananas.

I’m left with the impression that Internet access isn’t the top priority at airports. Neither the American Association of Airport Executives nor the Airports Council International has bothered to poll its members about their Internet offerings, although one ACI official agreed, “that would be a good idea for a survey.”

Fact is, America’s airports are dealing with more pressing issues like security and growth management, that demand their undivided attention.

Meaning that it’s up to us to make our connection at the airport.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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