From the article:

"And hotels have been been buying more bandwidth in response, says Dave Garrison, CEO of iBahn, one of the world's top hotel Internet providers.

IBahn's latest data show that 40% of travelers are carrying two Wi-Fi devices, and 25% are carrying three or more. And they're using them for more than e-mail.

"The iPad revolution has changed mobile devices from being text- and voice-oriented to being about pictures, graphics and movies, whether FaceTime, YouTube or social networks," Garrison says.

Between March 2011 and December 2011, he says, iBahn saw the amount of data per session in hotels jump 50%, which translates into higher costs.

That, he says, is what's prompting hotel chains to re-examine whether to continue keeping Internet 100% free — or how much bandwidth to provide, how many mobile devices to allow for free or how many minutes that Internet access should be free.

"This is being played out around the world by operators trying to meet the demand for free Internet with the reality that the costs are running away," Garrison says."

So Marriott & Carlton are leading the fray currently w/ the 2-tiered pricing, but there's nothing to say the others won't switch to it & eliminate free for elites. Of course if they don't, it then becomes a competitive advantage over Marriott.

Cheers.