YOU CHOOSE: The direct revenue of a fee solution or
the indirect revenue of a free solution.
THE FREE CAMP
The Free access evangelists all point to the free
communications nature of the internet. They tell stories
and speak about market studies showing that free access
attracts people to your venue. For example:
Schlotzsky's Delis, which was one of the first major
chains to embrace the idea of free WiFi, has found that
it brings in plenty more customers. From what they've
seen, it's paying back $100,000 per year, per store on
an investment of $8,000. Not bad. And, they're using
expensive T1 lines. In places where you can get away
with a cheaper DSL line, the payoff could be even
greater. Schlotzsky's recognizes the promotional value
of free WiFi, and is even boosting their signal to offer
the WiFi as far away as possible (and putting up a
splash screen when you log on showing Schlotzsky's
menu).
Solatto's Coffee Shop in the Eastlake Shopping Center
in Chula Vista, California, recently started offering
free wireless access (as long as you buy at least a cup
of coffee).
You have probably noticed that many hotel chains are
now offering free internet access in your room. Is it
really free? Or is it a clever marketing ploy to attract
you to their chain rather than a competitor's. Chances
are good that you will pay more for the room at one of
these "free" access locations.
IN A STUDY DONE ABOUT A YEAR AGO, "The researchers
modeled five hotspots, three where service is available
for a fee and two where service was free. They found
that, on average, profits for the free hotspots were 533
percent higher than those that had paid services because
of increased coffee and food sales. While these were
just modeled scenarios, this may be the first actual
study I've seen comparing profits of fee vs. free
hotspots. That's a significant case for offering free
hotspots"
http://wifinetnews.com/archives/002817.html
The saying "If you build it, they will come" seems to
hold truth - but does it? Read-on.
FREE ACCESS CONS
By providing free access, you may be inviting trouble.
Your location is can be blacklisted or worse -
investigated by the local authorities! Known as drive-by
spamming, unscrupulous surfers target your location to
send their million obscene spam email messages.
By providing free access, you are inviting those
elements in society that can benefit by using your
bandwidth to download huge amounts of data, video and
other content, rather than using their own traceable
connection. Any kid will say - hey I can download all my
music and videos at this free access joint - why should
I use my mom's connection?
This also opens the door to litigation - i.e., some
sicko using your free internet connection, and since it
is your connection, offered for free, you may be
responsible and have no way of knowing who that user is.
Whotspot can help prevent that. All controlled users
have to register for an account before they can surf or
send email. In addition, we offer a unique gateway
solution that also provides content filtering to keep
our profanities and adult oriented content.
THE FEE or PAID ACCESS CAMP
The Bottom Line: T-Mobile is grossing $1.4 million per month in the
United States from their hotspots. Estimates are that by
2007, there will be roughly 41,000 hotspots generating
in excess of $3 billion. Gartner has said that by
2007, revenue from hotspot users will surpass $9
billion.
When you pay for internet access, you are surfing in
a controlled environment. Usage patterns can be tracked,
quality of service can be provided and limitations can
be placed on end-user surfing habits. You get a
business-class fully managed solution, that keeps
working even when you stop.
How much do you know about WiFi internet access,
client configurations, IP and TCP problems? Are you in
business to sell coffee or spend your time debugging
computers? Well, with a fee-based service, technical
support is available. Your customer dial a toll-free
number to get help. You focus on your business, and we
help those who need it.
Why do I need controlled access?
Because you need to be able to bar a user if they abuse
the network. Without that capability, if an upstream
internet service provider complained about SPAM or
hacking attempts coming from your location, the only
recourse would be to turn this network off. Obviously,
that would penalize all the well-behaved users too. This
is also the reason why we require users of the network
to agree to be bound by the Acceptable Use Policy.
WHOTSPOT SOLUTIONS
Whotspot provides several options for those who want
to charge clients for WiFi Internet access, and those
that want to provide free, but controlled, access.
OPTION 1: OUR MOST POPULAR DEAL
In our regular offerings you would buy our WiFi
Gateway Router, connect it to your internet modem (Cable or
DSL), pay us our monthly location fee, and sell
prepaid SurfCards to your customers at full retail
prices. We charge you a minimal wholesale price for the
SurfCards when bought by you for resale to your
customers. When your customers pay for an account online
with their credit card, we do all the processing and
manage the account, billing and support. We extract our
fee, similar to the wholesale cost of SurfCards, and
transfer the net proceeds to you each month. Along with
this service, you get a custom default home page,
maintained by us, a custom successfully logged in page,
maintained by us, detailed monthly statistics and
reports, and of course toll-free technical support for
you and your customers. There is no monthly minimum -
you do not have to sell any SurfCards. Your monthly
location fee keeps your account alive and support
active. We call this our Basic plan. (more...)
As a retailer, you can be very creative. For example,
you could offer your clients a free 30 minute SurfCard,
if they purchase $5 or more in merchandise. You can
offer them a discounted 240 minute pass, if they spend
$20 or more in your venue.
The great thing about this full service offering - is
that it's controlled. You physically have to interact
with the customer. No freeloaders or anonymous surfers.
Only paying customers can surf free!
Get Started today!
OPTION 2: FIXED MONTHLY FEE ($75), FREE CUSTOMER ACCESS
In our FIXED MONTHLY OFFERING, you would buy our WiFi
Gateway Router, connect it to your internet modem (Cable or
DSL), pay us a fixed ($75) monthly location fee, and
offer free surfing to your customers. Your customers
will still see your portal page, and will have to login
with a SurfCard Code, but the account is
free. We send you as many 30/60 minute SurfCard codes as
you need.
As a retailer, you can be very creative. For example,
you could offer your clients a free 30 minute SurfCard
code,
if they purchase $5 or more in merchandise. You can
also offer them other SurfCards, if they spend
more in your venue.
The great thing about this optional service offering - is
that it's controlled and it's fixed cost. You physically have to interact
with the customer. No freeloaders or anonymous surfers.
Only paying customers can surf free! Other customers who
have not purchased products from you will pay the full
retail price for surfing by signing up for an account
online with their credit card. We'll even send you 50%
of the revenue for these paying customers!
Need toll-free technical support for your end-users,
just add $25/month and you've got it. A completely
hands-off solution to offering WiFi for your customers.
To get started, just purchase one of our WiFi
Gateways and add the Free Access plan as an option.
What you get for $75/month:
- Custom Portal Page and Redirect Page, hosted on
our servers
- Unlimited Prepaid Codes valid for 30 minutes, 60
minutes or 1 day.
- If desired, Credit Card interface is also
active. We send you 50%. This allows non-customers
to pay for internet access.
- Monthly report of Surfers accessing your WiFi
- Free installation support, email support, and portal updates
- Low monthly fee of $75
- Free upgrade to full pay-per-use system whenever
you like
- Add toll-free technical support +$25/month
Get Started today!
Need more information? Contact
Us.
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