Kroes on the airport Wi-Fi case

Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Digital Agenda

WiFi in airports has been hassle and frustration for years, says David Manners. Now Neelie Kroes, the EC VP who is pushing for the abolition of roaming charges, is on the WiFi case.

Thank God for Dusseldorf Airport. Never thought I’d ever say that but the meanness of whoever runs Dusseldorf Airport has propelled the indefatigable Neelie Kroes on a new crusade.

WiFi in airports has been hassle and frustration for years. All airports have it but some over-charge massively for it and have very complex procedures for accessing it and paying for it. They don’t actually ask for your inside trouser leg measurement but you get the impression they would if they’d thought of it.

Now Neelie Kroes, the EC VP who is pushing for the abolition of roaming charges, is on the WiFi case.

Going through Dusseldorf airport last week Kroes was appalled to find they charge for WiFi. It is thievery!” says Kroes, “we pay huge charges to use airports, people expect connectivity in 2014!”

In UK airports I don’t even bother to look for WiFi any more because I know they’ll not only charge but they’ll have a hugely hassley procedure for paying.

Fortunately the cellular signal is OK at Heathrow and Gatwick.

Abroad it’s pot luck. Kroes splits airports into good and bad.

Good:

Munich; Cork; Dublin; Vienna; Amsterdam Schiphol; Helsinki; Macedonia, Thessaloniki; Stockholm Arlanda; Vilnius; Ljubljana; Turku; Dubai; Montreal; Bogota; Cleveland; Hong Kong; Dallas Fort Worth; Miami

Bad:

London Heathrow; London Gatwick; Paris CDG; Milan Linate; Stockholm Bromma; Athens Venizelos; Seville; Madrid; Bologna; Copenhagen; Malaga; Düsseldorf.

In the good list I can add San Jose which has free, easy to use WiFi.

Hurrah for Neelie. Now she’s on the case we should have no more nonsense from these airport operators.

from News http://ift.tt/1fFedYy

via Yuichun