Wi-Fi Prevails at Boston Airport
Continental Airlines set up a free wi-fi access point at Boston’s Logan Airport. Massport, which runs the airport, forced Continental to shut down the AP, claiming 1) it might interfere with police communications, 2) it violated Continental’s lease, and 3) (most important) it competed with Massport’s $7.95 per day wi-fi service. (A personal aside: Massport’s only competition in bureaucratic incompetence in the Bay State is the Mass. Turnpike Authority, which brought you deadly falling ceiling tiles in the Ted Williams tunnel.)
Fortunately for those of us who travel there frequently, the FCC blocked the Massport bid for monopoly. This bodes well for entities that want to set up wireless access points – including those who dare compete with overpriced governmental offerings. This ruling is cheering for those who believe in Yochai Benkler’s approach to open wireless networks, and Jonathan Zittrain’s views on the generative Internet. It’s also nice to know that the airport can overcharge us for water, food, and other necessities, but at least may have some competition for our Internet needs.
Filed under: ISP, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, Open Access, Security
Fantastic news! I always hated the holdup prices at the airport. I’m going to check Continental’s website first when flying now.
As for MassPort–I always thought its uselessness best reflected in the silly “airport news” newspaper that is all over the building (and read by no one). One can almost picture the bureaucrat in a no-show job (connected to a Southie pol) churning that out periodically, then resuming torpor.