News

Airlines and airports battle over Wi-Fi use

June 22, 2004

BOSTON - The wireless systems at several airports are at the center of a fight over the unlicensed wireless spectrum used to support a wide range of applications, from passenger Internet access to remote check-in kiosks, according to an article in Computer Weekly.

When Logan International Airport in Boston turns on an airport-wide Wi-Fi network next week, airlines and their passengers will have to pay to use the network, something United Airlines views as an "unnecessary expense", according to Mike Mader, a ground systems radio engineer who handles Wi-Fi installations for United.

While passengers can choose whether to pay for access to Wi-Fi hot spots at Logan, airlines which use Wi-Fi networks to support key applications such as bag tracking, have no choice, according to Barbara Platt, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Port Authority.

According to the article, United has installed its own Wi-Fi networks to support bag-scanning operations at a number of airports. But Mader said the carrier will have to use the Massport network under the mandate imposed on all airport tenants.

That is not as cost-effective as United installing and operating its own network, Mader said. Jeremy Denton, director of government affairs for the Industrial Telecommunications Association (ITA), said that from his perspective, revenue - not frequency co-ordination - stands behind the move by airport authorities to control Wi-Fi networks.

The article states that ITA has asked the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling against airports' attempts to regulate the unlicensed spectrum, saying they have no legal standing to do so under FCC rules.