My article talked about all of the issues with Bandwidth moderation and costs in hotels especially business centered hotels. It discussed that free high speed internet is the #1 deciding factor for business travelers when choosing a hotel. More and more people are using up the bandwidth everyday whether to check email, print a boarding pass, or do their much needed business. Hotels are now starting to find ways to manage how much bandwidth each guest is able to consume. With technologies such as a Slingbox, one guest is able to use the majority of the hotels bandwidth by themselves solely. One technology that is taking the place of adding more data T1's is a link load balancer that allows other circuits to be used to lower the cost and to increase the amount of bandwidth. This technology also deals with when a circuit may go down. It says that if your primary circuit goes down at 6pm the link load balancer allows the other circuits to kick in and allow the guest to continue without any down time. Another factor the article discusses is whether or not to have free internet and unlimited bandwidth. An idea presented is to allow a certain amount of bandwidth for each guest for free and if they need an incredible amount or would be using a technology like a Slingbox they must pay an extra fee. Hotels need to begin to control their bandwidth or they are going to lose an enormous amount of revenues either from guests using too much bandwidth, people changing hotels for their lack of internet or by people simply choosing other hotels that have free access.
I completely understand that this is a huge issue in hotels today. I am working on the Marriott Project with Cihan and my questions deals with technology and entertainment in the guest rooms. We as a group have been looking into ways to control the amount of Bandwidth because Marriott expressed to us that this is a problem they are having. The idea of the link load balancer is great! The fact that there is the security if the primary circuit shuts off is ideal. This is a concern in all hotels because most front desk agents and employees of the hotel do not know how to fix the technology issues and the link load balancer would be able to fix the problem for them. As a guest in a hotel I feel that high speed internet access should be offered somewhere in the hotel for free. If I need to check my email or do something short on the computer I do not want to have to deal with slow access because other people are using most of the bandwidth. With hotels such as the Courtyard By Marriott, a hotel designed specifically for business travelers, bandwidth issues are extremely prevalent. Each businessman can have his laptop, his blackberry, his Slingbox, and other things that take up bandwidth because he is working and living from that hotel room. Also I agree with what the author is saying about the revenues. If you provide an extra, free high speed internet, you will increase your revenues. As the article states a business traveler looks for a hotel with free internet and they will not look at your hotel without in this day and age.
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2 comments:
I agree. I am staying in a hotel as I write this and the internet access is very slow. I am dissapointed. If they had elastic bandwith I would gladly play a premium to have better internet access to submit my assignment over.
Free internet should depend on the hotel's particular market. In some areas it is essential. For example, hotels that are situated in areas where they get alot of business travelers can use free wireless internet as a competitive advantage over the competition who do not wish to pay every month for providing such a service. In other areas, like resorts, it would be easier to get customers who would be willing to pay for their internet as a luxury. Either way, hoteliers should figure out which would work best for them and the market they wish to capture.
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