Wi-Fi this week
Wi-Fi is on the minds of airline executives and the people who sell to them. This week at the Hamburg Aircraft Interiors Expo, in-flight Wi-Fi pioneer Gogo faced competition from multinational corporations including Panasonic and ViaSat.
Panasonic said it now has 46% of the market for in-flight Wi-Fi, and that it needs to install 1,000 new systems this year in order to meet demand. Giants like Panasonic may have an advantage over Gogo if they can use their size to negotiate better rates with the satellite operators that provide connectivity for in-flight Wi-Fi.
Meanwhile, AT&T has tabled its plans to create an air-to-ground LTE network in partnership with Honeywell. That network was expected to incorporate both Wi-Fi and LTE using WCS spectrum.
Bank pays for Wi-Fi network
New York’s M&T Bank is not just financing a downtown Wi-Fi network; it’s paying for it outright. Bank Chairman Robert Wilmers told the Buffalo Business Journal that his company is spending $650,000 to install 30 Wi-Fi hot spots in Buffalo’s central business district. The company has 2,500 employees in the downtown area.
The free public Wi-Fi network is set to go live this summer. Ironically, logging into a bank account is one thing users are encouraged NOT to do on the network, as it will not be secure enough to guarantee privacy. The city’s partner in developing the network is the University of Buffalo, which will provide network design and engineering, fiber backhaul, and network management.
Advertisers set to fund NYC Wi-Fi
New York City said advertisers will bankroll its superfast free public Wi-Fi network. In fact the city expects the Wi-Fi network to be revenue positive, generating up to half a billion dollars by 2027.
The city is partnering with Qualcomm to turn its old pay phone kiosks into free public Wi-Fi hot spots that will include digital displays for advertising and public service announcements. Called LinkNYC, the network promises gigabit Wi-Fi in all five New York boroughs.
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