Weaving the travel web

By PETER GRIFFIN

It promises the ultimate convenience for keen web surfers who find themselves constantly on the move - wireless broadband internet access from the coffee shop, airport lounge or even the petrol station.

Wireless network provider Walker Wireless has begun installing wide area network (WAN) equipment at wireless "Hotspots" around the country that will allow people with laptops and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to connect to the internet.

Hotels, airport lounges, cafes and petrol stations - the haunts of the business traveller - are being targeted by Walker Wireless which expects the high penetration of laptops and high internet usage in this country to drive demand for the service expected to go live in the next few weeks.

Auckland Airport, the Carlton Hotel, and hotel chain Dynasty Group already have the antennas and equipment to become Hot Spots for broadband wireless access and other restaurants and hotels are keen to join the list, according to the company.

Paul Ryan, chief executive officer of Walker Wireless, said hours of sitting in crowded airport lounges fuming about slow internet access drove him to develop the service. He said Hotspots would offer better internet connectivity than some people had in their offices.

"Once you're used to this kind of access, you want it away from the office as well. It's personalised, and it's to your own notebook or device. There's no queuing for the business centre or the couple of PCs in the airport lounge," he said.

People wanting to use the services sign up with Walker Wireless for a fee of $25 per month. That buys them four hours of high-speed internet access - up to four megabytes a second. Subscribers will receive an 802.11 standard wireless network card for their laptop or notebook to give a wireless connection to the internet. Additional fees are charged in 15-minute increments. The cards cost about $500 to buy but can be rented.

Walker Wireless is negotiating roaming agreements with overseas wireless operators so travellers can use the internet and corporate networks abroad.

Mr Ryan would not say how many customers he expected to take up the service, but said there was interest from its existing base of more than 1000 wireless LAN customers.

Locally, Walker Wireless can expect stiffening competition in the wireless internet market as network operators chase the rich streams of revenue generated by such services.

Toshiba notebook users visiting Qantas airport lounges in New Zealand are already able to gain wireless internet access through a deal with Australian wireless broadband service provider SkyNet.

Globally, a growing number of telecoms operators and hardware vendors are preparing to develop wireless broadband services.

In the US, Compaq and Starbucks Coffee have a five-year, $US100 million deal to give customers wireless internet access while they sip their latte.

Herald Online Travel