While guests continue traveling with multiple mobile smart devices, the pressure
remains on hoteliers to provide the Internet bandwidth necessary to keep up with
growing demand. But bandwidth isn't cheap, and many hoteliers offer Wi-Fi access
to guests for free as a pillar of their business model. How do these hoteliers offset
the cost of improving their infrastructure?
Hoteliers may not want to pass the costs on to consumers, but those who don't already
charge for Internet access may have no choice if they hope to keep their infrastructure
up to date.
John Henderson, senior vice president, network services, Datatrend Technologies
Inc., said some hotels have moved to a tiered price structure where guests enjoy
a particular level of Internet service for a certain price. Under this system, guests
who simply want to send an e-mail or conduct light Web browsing may choose a free
option. Other guests who want to stream video as well as download and upload files
may pay a higher fee.
“[Hotels] are going to a tiered rate, and they have to because they need a bigger
pipe running into the building,” Henderson said. “In the old days, they were actually
looking at high-speed Internet access to be a revenue generator. Not anymore.”
Henderson suggested loyalty club members could continue receiving free Internet
while noting that larger properties will build the Internet charge straight into
the daily room rate or into some broad “resort fee.”
“People will pay for Wi-Fi service if it means the difference between doing work
or not,” Bruce Miller, vice president, product marketing, Xirrus, said. “It's a
way [hotels] can kind of differentiate and make sure the business traveler has a
rock-solid service experience.”
As the debate continues on tiered pricing, two other emerging technologies could
help hoteliers address bandwidth problems.
802.11ac
802.11ac is the evolution of 802 Wi-Fi standards, providing for not only increased
speeds but also higher speeds over longer distances as well as less interference
with other devices and the ability of more clients to connect per access point.
“If you have an old network and you move to 802.11ac, there is an immediate benefit
on the amount of bandwidth you can get,” Miller said. “It will benefit everybody
by having faster lanes on the freeway. People won't swap out their infrastructure
wholesale just because you have a new standard, but by the end of this year, the
estimates are that about half of all new [smart mobile] devices that ship will have
802.11ac support. Within the next couple years, a majority of users will shift in
that direction and having an AC infrastructure will certainly make a difference.”
While many current consumer devices don't support 802.11 ac, current 802.11n hardware
is not compatible with 802.11ac, requiring hardware upgrades, which can be costly.
Meru Networks offers the AP122, an 802.11ac wall plate access point designed for
any location flush to a wall. Meru says this wall plate works on standard Power
over Ethernet (PoE), saving the hardware upgrades.
Until costs come down and consumer devices support the technology, 802.11ac likely
won't be widespread for some time.
“802.11ac is on the way and will replace 802.11n as time progresses and the budgets
allow replacement,” said Carl Schlack, product manager, Nomadix, a company that
says its gateways can support 802.11ac access points.
Passive Optical Network
Another solution in its infancy is the passive optical network (PON), a telecommunications
network that uses point-to-multipoint fiber to the premises in which unpowered optical
splitters enable a single optical fiber to serve multiple purposes. This fiber technology
has been used in residential settings across the United States for more than a decade.
PONs are high-performance, power-saving, environmentally friendly technology for
enterprise data network environments. PONs also reduce the amount of fiber and central
office equipment required with current point-to-point architectures.
PONs also allow for transmission of data over long distances, up to 12 miles versus
60 to 90 meters for copper wiring, and at higher bandwidths while converging voice,
data and video services in a single fiber strand. The technology offers many benefits
but don't expect to see widespread PONs anytime soon.
“PON is being implemented the most slowly, since it requires in many cases the removal
of the CAT [Category] 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 cables to achieve the space and carbon foot
print savings,” Schlack said. Henderson described PON as still in “the breakout
stage.”
“You should install this during new construction,” he said. “It's very cost prohibitive
to cut walls and get the fiber optics over to where you want the devices.”
Vision Technologies recently installed a PON in New York City's new 65-story Marriott.
In the original blueprints, Marriott called for a traditional copper-cabling infrastructure.
For a network supporting 1,000 users, Vision said choosing PON over copper translates
into a 48 percent savings in capital expenditures alone. The building owners decided
to make the switch before construction.
In addition to the installation savings, Vision noted the PON freed up floor space
on 40 floors for other uses and resulted in a projected 50 percent energy savings.
Once installed, Henderson noted PONs can last between 10 and 20 years, as opposed
to the five-to-seven year lifespan of copper, providing hoteliers further savings.