Charging for WiFi - Hotspots is just too expensive...

A few weeks ago, I wondered why so many bars and cafes bother to charge for providing a hotspot. Now Scott Rafer has written an interesting Op-Ed for AlwaysOn on a similar subject, which gives some hard numbers:

(...) Here's the irony in Wi-Fi public access pricing: retailers can be profitable by offering free Wi-Fi as a customer acquisition tool. But when they charge for Wi-Fi access, these retailers, and the WISPs serving them, almost certainly lose money. According to a market study coming out this summer, retailers are quickly learning this lesson: up to 30% of US location owners who plan to deploy commercial hotspots in 2004 intend those hotspots to be free or free-with-purchase.

The fully loaded cost of offering free Wi-Fi access is less than $6/day. Operating a billable hotspot costs over $30/day. Half this cost comes from building or altering billing systems, plus the endless associated customer care. The millions of dollars already spent on systems to charge Wi-Fi users by the megabyte, minute, etc., will never be recuperated. (...)

Comments

[Armando]

I would appreciate to find out applications (providers) for service providers able to charge for Wi-Fi users according to time of navigating.

[Leo]

Can anyone advise me on the cost of a billing and wifi management software for a medium sized deli-cafe ?

thanks