If you’re looking for free Wi-Fi service and you happen to live in Australia, you might be in luck, at least if Tourism Australia — Australia’s peak destination marketing body — gets its way. Tourism Australia is trying to convince “thousands of Australian hotels” to provide consumers with free wi-fi in what it says is an attempt to “end exorbitant in-room internet bills.”
“Holidays are all about living in the moment,” Nick Baker, general manager of consumer marketing for Tourism Australia, told SMH. “How often have we promised ourselves that we’ll post a great holiday moment on Facebook, tweet out a photo or a review on TripAdvisor, but not been able to do so due to lack of wi-fi access?”
Peter Hook, the general manager of communications for the Accor Asia Pacific hotel group, sees a great deal of difficulty in pushing for such a deal, however, citing the expensive price tag for rolling out such a venture and also mentioning the low quality state of free wi-fi provided at restaurants such as McDonald’s.
“Our guests want high-speed, high-quality internet that is secure and reliable. That can mean 100-plus routers covering a high-rise hotel.”
This brings to light the realization that the cost of building a widespread wi-fi infrastructure is considerably high, and it’s going to take a great deal of work to convince Australian hotels to take a chance and invest in the free internet hotspots. Still, it’s something that voice over IP and messaging app users will be able to benefit from should it ever see the light of day.