Cafenet News

Telecom to launch WiFi wireless hot spot

12 July 2004

Telecom will launch WiFi wireless internet "hot spot" services in New Zealand this week.

The telco said earlier this year that it would begin providing WiFi to the public with the goal of rolling it out to airports, conference centres and hotels. This followed a successful trial of WiFi in Air New Zealand Koru lounges.

Sources say Telecom has some hotspots set up and ready to go but is also in negotiations with existing WiFi operators.

A deal could let Telecom provide Xtra customers with WiFi access through access points owned by other operators, but with customers billed to their Xtra account.

Potential partners include CityLink, which operates CafeNet in Wellington, and Auckland's Reach Wireless, which recently set up a hotspot zone in central Auckland.

CityLink managers were unavailable and Reach declined to comment on the prospect of partnering with Telecom.

Telecom was reported last week as pitching to provide WiFi at Restaurant Brands' Starbucks outlets.

The cafe chain has so far been working with Reach on WiFi.

McDonald's also wants to provide a WiFi service to customers in New Zealand, following deals with WiFi providers around the world, including Australia.

A limited number of WiFi operators can provide overlapping services in the same location without interfering with one another.

However, the WiFi market has low margins and this means a cooperative approach may appeal to service providers if billing and interconnect issues can be resolved.

Notebook computers equipped with WiFi access cards are typically retailing for a premium of a couple of hundred dollars, according to industry observers.