An exclusive interview with Joe Brunoli, Vice President of Business Development for the Anacapa Group, the world's largest operator of FREE HotSpots.

4Hoteliers.com spoke with Joe about the growing free internet trend and demand within the hospitality and tourism industry, the nature of their service, challenges they face and the future of free Wi-Fi as a marketing medium within our industry.

The Background – In Brief
To date FREE Hotspots are available in 3000 locations in 18 countries -Installed in hotels, restaurants, cafes and other public venues.

As a division of the Anacapas group, free-hotspot.com uses Anacapa's EDGE network messaging technology to power its own network of FREE hotspots as well as to offer a broad range of Wi-Fi services to network operators and venue owners throughout Europe.

Why the Growth Spurt of Free Wi-Fi Joe? "It started several years ago...the major trend was that the cost of Wi-Fi came right down and didn't justify having to pay for it. A second trend is that more and more people were starting to use Wi-Fi. It used to be used by business travellers, now virtually all PC's have Wi-Fi and today an estimated 85% of mobile phones also have it built-in. In addition to the surge in corporate business there has also been a noticed growing interest by holiday travellers....the number of people wanting Wi-Fi is exploding."

Is the Need for Internet Provision Out Stripping Other Services? Joe comments that in a recent business traveller's survey, free internet was noted as the number one desire of business travellers - more important than a free breakfast. Internet communication is un-questionably an indispensable tool for work or leisure. More and more hotels, cafes and restaurants are looking for cost effective ways to provide Internet services that will attract and retain customers.

A Classic Example - The Drury Court Hotel, Dublin. Ireland's floundering broadband infrastructure has made providing Internet access for guests a difficult situation for many in the hospitality industry. In order to cater for a growing demand for Internet access, The Drury Court's manager, Paul Hand, installed an Internet system from a well known Irish broadband provider in 2002. The system required the user to purchase a ticket, enabling them to access the Internet for a selected period of time. Three years later the tickets sat gathering dust; not one had been sold!

With this in mind, Paul Hand decided to find out how he could offer his guests FREE Wi-Fi. In less than 3 weeks, the new free-hotspot system was installed and up and running. The free-hotspot.com service ensures his clientele can use the facility without hidden costs in complete comfort and ease.

What was the Impact of Offering Internet Access? Reservation numbers grew in direct response to the popularity of the service. For the guests, FREE internet access is available, the system is user friendly and the network is picked up automatically with speed.

What are the other Advantages of Free Wi-Fi for Hotels?
"40% of our installations are in hotels, hotels are early adapters. Many have been paying for and are in many cases still in 5 year contracts, paying for Wi-Fi to deliver the service to their business men. It has become cheeky though to ask the guest to pay. Hotels are beginning to ask, when can I switch to free? They need to increase guest satisfaction. The paid system isn't working for them; in many countries the going rate per hour is fairly expensive."

All free-hotspot.com requires is that the hotel/restaurant or Cafe has its own broadband Internet subscription and to pay a one-time fee for installation. The company supplies the HotSpot hardware and software, a FreePhone technical support hotline, maintenance and promotional material.

There are no ongoing monthly fees or any sort of administration work required. The technology is straightforward and easy to understand to ensure quick adaption. The hotline also provides an easy way for the Internet user to communicate any problems with the system directly to free-hotspot.com, meaning the proprietor does not have to worry about technical difficulties.


What's the Deal with Free? The free-hotspot.com Wi-Fi service is financed by sponsor advertisements which appear at the start of each one hour user session. This means that in return for watching a short advert, the hotel guests receive one hour of full Internet access.

The edge messaging system allows advertising and marketing material; the EDGE allows various types of rich media and interactive content to be served over a network (wire or wireless) to users before they are actually granted access to that network.

The system communicates with users at the point of access, or ‘EDGE' of the network. These messages can be highly controlled and targeted.

Are Adverts an Irritation? The adverts are high quality ads such as film trailers or TV-style spots. The products and services being advertised are appropriate for our clientele and the adverts themselves never last more than 20 seconds or so.

The advertising revenue is tern is shared with the hotel whilst not a vast amount, it offsets the cost of broadband and means that the free Wi-Fi service is cost neutral on an operational level.

However, hospitality venues typically place a higher value on the user experience. Whilst there is a need for free service there is also a need for uninterrupted user time.

Joe was Keen to Explain That: "There are specific solutions for hotels; they can sponsor their own free Wi-Fi. That is, they buy up all the advert inventory to allow guests to only experience their brand experience."

"Once the guest checks in to the hotel, goes up to their room, wants to check emails and look at a few items on line, they login and up pops a marketing survey conducted by the hotel...it's the start of their brand experience. The first survey may ask, for example, 1.How did you make your booking? etc."

After answering a short series of questions a guest is free to access the internet.

"If you're going to get free Wi-Fi then you are happy to fill in a survey The next time may then be another feedback form online, say 12 hours later, which has the focus of a guest satisfaction survey."

In this instance, hotels can get something back for the free provision – how many guest survey cards are left to sit and collect coffee cup rings? The Edge advert space can be an in-house marketing survey. Restaurant chains that have product and co-marketing promos can also use this ad space effectively.

"Given that guest communication and feedback is a priority and the ‘Holy Grail' so to speak, this is an opportunity to achieve two goals at the same time."

Similarly, as Joe points out, restaurants and other chains have strong brands which they also want to guard and promote. These ad solutions and primary interfaces can do just that by supporting their own brands and supporting their co-marketing partners.

"If you're a hotel with a strong brand, the last thing you want is a guest checking out the Wi-Fi provider...it's a missed branding opportunity. In this instance the service does not look like it is being provided by the hotel. Free-hotspot.com is a co-brand or sub-brand, you won't see free-hotspots.com but instead each interface is customized for the hotel or restaurant."

And for Cafes?
"We thought we would be installing most of our Wi-Fi in cafes. Commuters or travelling business men for example may have a series of appointments during a day. What are they going to do in-between time?"

"You go in a Cafe, watch a 20-30 second advert and after that have free internet for one hour –a 1 hour user session isn't bad".

Joe comments that, students and tourists are also other big markets.

"When we installed Wi-Fi in a Cafe in Italy, the owner told us soon after that there were queues across the street!"

As Joe continues to list the successful impact on individual business he picks out that the location of such an outlet is important. Promotional window stickers and material aids advertising the free service in such an area that has a couple of universities nearby, or train station in the middle of commuter country or several tourist attractions the internet lounge is sure to be crowded. Clearly however, prompting the decline in cyber cafes as we know them.

What Set-Backs Have you Encountered Along the Way?
"Our largest competitor is the trend toward free Wi-Fi itself. Wi-Fi is easy to implement. We're rushing to get to the people before they have their cousin Vinnie come and install one. The idea of free Wi-Fi is sold; it's a challenge for us to get out there. The next step is making free Wi-Fi pay. The edge messaging platform is a way hotels and cafes can benefit from providing such a service."

Future Developments
As Joe is quick to point out, that the edge messaging system is also another pillar in co-marketing. Strategic co-advertising and branding ventures are common place within our industry– airlines or car rental companies' link with leading hotel brands or restaurants and with these joint ventures come joint marketing agreements; the free Wi-Fi is a tool to again endorse the partnership.

Where are you Focusing your Marketing at Present?
"Our focus at present is the European market. There have been one or two challenges due to the nature of each country. Italy, for example, has restrictions in their laws -there is a need (due to terrorism monitoring) to track each user, so cafes and other outlets issue scratch cards."

Have you Faced other Challenges with the European Difference? As Joe admits, for Americans who trip across the pond, there is always the surprise of a completely different set up and mentality.

"A problem at times is mentality. A notable exception to this growing trend is the Uk. The UK still insists on paying for WiFi, there are so many paying market providers out there, it's hard to believe for many that it is free, people are very sceptical about it being free, there is a strong tradition of paying for WiFi." Optimism is in the air though as Joe mentions one or two BBC programmes campaigning and educating the public about the free WiFi concept.

Are You Going Global?
"Whilst we're concentrating on Europe we're also going worldwide for advertising and are linking up with international hotel chains."

What's Your Competitive Edge?
"Have free Wi-Fi and one that works for you. One that brings marketing value in terms of branding."

Conclusion
Free is not enough – Wi-Fi should provide a messaging solution that supports brands and is flexible enough to allow multiple message formats from multiple stakeholders.

About Joe:
A graduate of Harvard University, Joe Brunoli has spent over 20 years in international sales and marketing in the technology arena. He has published several books about the IT and Internet sectors and has also lectured in Hospitality Brand Marketing and E-Marketing at the MBA level.

Joe Brunoli is Vice President of Business Development for The Anacapa Group where he oversees the development of Anacapa's free-hotspot.com, the world's largest operator of FREE HotSpots.

Mr. Brunoli is also responsible for developing strategic relationships in key industries such as hospitality and travel, where Anacapa's Wi-Fi-based messaging solutions can provide added value to wireless network owners and  operators. Email: joe@free-hotspot.com

About free-hotspot.com:
free-hotspot.com operates the world's largest free wireless network with 2400 FREE HotSpot locations in 18 countries throughout Europe. To gain access to free-hotspot.com's free wireless Internet service, users agree to watch an introductory Sponsor advertisement.

This innovative system, which has won the prestigious Wireless Broadband Innovation Award for Best Public Wi-Fi Product, is made available under the EDGE Messaging brand name to wireless network operators as well as hospitality chains and other organisations that wish to increase revenue, promote strategic marketing programmes or build brand presence over their own Wi-Fi networks.

free-hotspot.com supports an active user community and provides free wireless Internet service to around 300,000 people each month. The company also operates the industry's most comprehensive directory of free HotSpots which currently lists more than 20,000 free wireless Internet locations worldwide. www.free-hotspot.com