Atlanta airport launches free Wi-Fi

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed called the launch of free Wi-Fi at Hartsfield-Jackson International this week the ‘“right thing to do” by resolving the No. 1 complaint at the airport.

The removal of the $4.95 fee for Wi-Fi at the world’s busiest airport came after a $5.6 million investment in Wi-Fi infrastructure to handle the flood of users expected to use the service now that it is free.

The move was part of Reed’s efforts to make Atlanta a “leading city in the tech space.” He said domestic and international passengers had demanded free Wi-Fi, as most of them travel with smartphones, laptops or tablets or a combination of the three.

“This is something I wanted really, really bad,” Reed said. “It sends the right message to the world.”

Interim airport manager Miguel Southwell said Hartsfield-Jackson plans to include on the Wi-Fi service airport promotions such as information on sales at concessions. He said he has not ruled out other advertising, but that the airport does not need to offset the loss of roughly $1.5 million in revenue that had been collected annually from fees.

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