Free wi-fi coming to Hartsfield, but not yet

By By Kelly Yamanouchi

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport hopes to launch free wireless Internet access next year, though it will also continue to offer fee-based wi-fi for those who need or prefer it.

With airports, hotels, coffee shops and other places migrating to a free, ad-supported wi-fi model, customers “now expect it,” said Jeff Pearse, director of marketing and business development at Hartsfield-Jackson,the world’s busiest airport.

But they won’t get it immediately. In a report this week to the Atlanta City Council Transportation Committee, the airport said it determined that “given the current economic climate, it is not feasible to forgo revenue received from the existing business model.”

The committee approved a proposal to extend agreements through August 1, 2011 with three wi-fi providers that offer fee-based service. The wi-fi providers’ prices vary, with rates such as $7.95 per day.

In 2010, Pearse plans to offer a hybrid system, keeping fee-based wi-fi for those who have corporate firewall requirements or corporate agreements with a wi-fi provider, and adding a free wi-fi option subsidized by ads. The airport is seeking a company to run free wi-fi, but “there is a lot of uncertainty,” Pearse acknowledged, including how much ad revenue such a service would generate.

Other airports typically charge for wi-fi as Hartsfield-Jackson does, but others, including those in Las Vegas and Denver, offer free wi-fi.

Hartsfield-Jackson gets about 25,000 to 40,000 connections per month and projects it will bring in $1 million per year based on continued demand.

When airports switch to free wi-fi, the number of connections can increase 10 times or more, but Pearse said he expects the increase will likely be smaller at Hartsfield-Jackson, based on market research. If additional wireless capacity is needed, the airport would seek city approval to fund it, Pearse said.

He said no decision has been made on whether to censor Web sites on free wi-fi.

Meanwhile, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is putting wi-fi on its mainline domestic fleet and AirTran Airways this week finished installing wi-fi on its entire fleet. Aircell, which provides Gogo in-flight wi-fi on both carriers, on Wednesday announced two additional rate options - $5.95 for flights 1.5 hours or less or $12.95 for a 24-hour pass.