Free WIFI

I went to Kelana Mall, SS6 for my tea last Monday. I noticed that many cafe there offering the service of free WIFI. Undoubtedly, this is an emerging trend of commercial establishments providing free Internet service to their patrons. We saw shopping malls, coffee shops, food courts, government offices, hotels and even the health centres are doing the same. Some have even started providing the mobile phone battery charging facility for their customers. I believe this trend will further expand to other type of businesses and wider coverage of services, perhaps one day we can see all premises are equipped with free children play area. By doing so, branding is established and customers loyalty is assured. Nowadays, we over heard youngster said going to a XXX Town XXX Coffee for online chit chat.

In selecting my outlets for Internet service at Kelana Mall, I looked for premises offering the best service, ambiance, setting, variety of food and beverage. Only then, I noticed that while some establishments have considered providing free WIFI service an essential facility, some have done so simply because others are doing so without proper planning.

While there are outlets providing power point at every tables, there are outlets without any power point or only have few in a corner. Some outlets only have WIFI access in the open area or seating without cool air whilst few are offering choice at open and enclosed area. There are outlets requesting password for securing the line while some have unsecured service. Perhaps it is a controlling measure to allow access for own customers only. While there are reasons or justification for doing so, I believe under the digital age, customers prefer unlimited access or with limited controlling factors. Any move to restrict access or make accessibility difficult is certainly unwelcome, I presume.

Perhaps for businesses or even government agencies to look into providing Free Digital Services for public in winning their market share and competitive edge, these considerations should not be over looked or else the services will have no value added and remain as a PR jargon.