LarryJ

Could you please tell Comcast that so I can quit paying them their monthly subscription fee?

What you can own is the equipment that delivers the internet (modems, routers, switches, and wireless access points) and that gives you the right to control who uses what you own. IOW, the wifi providers in the airport can charge me to use the internet through their equipment but they can not charge me to use the internet through the data services (which I also pay for) of my phone while I'm in the airport.

Tchiowa

No, you are in fact stealing.

Interpol

These companies aren't selling the internet, they're selling access to the internet through physical equipment that is maintained and owned by them. If you don't want to pay what they charge to access the internet through their conduit, then you are free to find another way to access it at a cost that is acceptable to you.

If someone doesn't like the fact that I charge a toll for them to walk through my property to get somewhere on the other side, they can go around or walk through my neighbor's property who might not be charging a toll. Pretty simple concept.

joshwex90

Bakpapier, would it be acceptable to travel on a toll road without paying? (Just don't use EZPass but go through the EZP lane and cover your face and license plate so they can't track you.)

televisor

Not that I support unauthorised Wifi usage, but a lot of these comparisons don't really compare well:

Roads: cars cause wear, causing more maintenance/replacement. (Not much of a margin if any)
Toilets: requiring active cleaning, every usage will increase the cost. (Minimal margin, if any)
Internet access in an airport which already exists: urrm... More bits are sent over a wire, between devices which are already on all the time? (Huge margins if charging per time.)

To be honest, getting internet access in the US as a visitor can be quite annoying (e.g. ridiculous pricing for mobile data, no visitor friendly plans), but it's still not that hard to either pay for WiFi or get a sim card.

Bakpapier

This. I do not think it is right to be making money off a very basic, elemental service. We live in 2016. If you are at the airport, you do not always have the opportunity to buy a local sim card. Many people are foreign so cannot use data plans. They are basically making good money off helpless intenrational passengers who need wifi to contact their family member and do other elemental tasks.

I bet that most of the people here who are advocating charging money for wifi are 1) American (pay for everything !) 2) Older people who are from before the internet/wifi era and thus are more used to going without any wifi.

But the fact of the matter is that we live in 2016 and wifi has become a very elemental commodity in our lives. Not an 'extra' that you should be paying for.

joshwex90

You can try and justify all you want by making any type of claims, but it still doesn't justify theft.

I don't pay for everything, and have never paid for public WiFi access in my life. I agree that it's annoying when it isn't free, regardless of the airport. And I certainly grew up in the internet era, and understand its importance. But that doesn't change the fact that barring a law somewhere, the airport is under no obligation to provide free WiFi. Heck, they're under no obligation to provide ANY WiFi at all. They do so at their discretion, and based on their rules. You can say it's so elementary nowadays, but it isn't AND even if it is, that doesn't mean they ought to provide it for free. Would you be willing to use your cellphone and roam internationally and then dispute the charge with your credit card company because they should have given it to you for free?

Interpol

Wow, your entitlement attitude is appalling.

Just because you think something should be provided for free does not in any way justify theft of it, whether it's a service or a tangible object. Period.

I'm guessing you would also have no problem piggybacking off some stranger's unsecured LTE mobile hotspot if you found one, right?

BRITINJAPAN3

True but access to the internet is. As many have said, a service is offered and there is a price for that service, the choice is pay, or dont pay, you just added a third choice, to steal.

If I think beer is a basic and should be free, is it ok to order one and not drink it !!

shorthauldad

Ordering a beer and not drinking it is definitely a crime

YuropFlyer

In my opinion, airports should either offer free Wifi, or offer a short time free & longer paid access but at low rates.

Honestly, if you could get 1hr free, about 90% would be content. Charge 1€ for faster / 24hr access, and you get people buying it. Charge 10€, and you'll have people complain about it, and trying to trick around it.

If you pay 30€ per month for your 200MBit connection at home, you won't want to pay 10€ for a slow connection at the airport. If they offer it for less than a can of coke, people will simply use it.

It's the same in the air.

Emirates & other smart airlines have realised that offering cheap Wifi is attracting pax to fly with them. You pay peanuts (Still 1$ afaik) for (almost) unlimited Wifi, while others charge like 20$..

Guess who will have 2/3rds of the airplane paying for Wifi, and who will (maybe) get a few pax doing it.. even if the later gets a higher total income, the total satisfaction (and thus, marketing value) for the first one will be much bigger.

Bakpapier

It's not just about the sheer price though. It's also the principle (wifi is a basic commodity which should be free at airports and other public transit stations) and it's also the hassle of paying which might produce errors etc.

YuropFlyer

Internet isn't a basic commodity.. as simple as that..

The hassle of paying, I'll give you that. But there are systems which are really easy to use.. install one of these, charge 1$ per 12hrs, and all is perfectly fine for me. On the ground and in the air..

televisor

Tell that to the all the Americans affected by the recent outage...

Considering just how much runs over the internet nowadays, yes it's pretty much a commodity.

Bakpapier

If providing wifi hotspots truly is as expensive as some people here are saying, then how can it be that so many airports, bars, restaurants, train stations etc. all over the world provide WiFi for free?

If I were a US politician (luckily I am not though, haha) I would advocate a bill forcing airports and other major transit stations to provide free wifi connections for all passengers. For at least 2 hours. But preferably unlimited.