Ending WiFi Connectivity

The Federal Communications Commission announced today that effective at 8:00 PM EST, WiFi connectivity across the United States will effectively be ended. Although there had been rumblings about this for quite some time, it wasn't until late last month that the FCC began showing signs of going along with the proposals that had been put forth by members of the Airline industry and coffee houses across the United States. It seems that a joint commission from the two industries had lobbied hard for the end of WiFi simply because they were tired of dealing with customers who demanded better service while in airports and coffee shops.

Members of the airline industry reported that in the years since WiFi connectivity was first introduced to airports, it's become increasingly difficult for non-WiFi communications to occur due to the dearth of signals crossing the airwaves in airports. There are reports that many of the delays on airlines aren't due to overbooking or loss of gate space for airlines but simply becuase terminals which the airlines use to communicate passenger information across the areas of the airport are being overwhelmed and are experiencing so much interference that confirmed seat assignments aren't reaching the gate area and so overbookings are occuring. Additionally, because current laptop batter capacities are currently not good for more than a couple of hours, many travellers take to plugging their laptops into wall outlets in the airport which means there are less for the people at the airport to use.

At coffee houses around the country it is much the same scene. Many patrons complain of the fact that coffee houses around the nation are turning into de facto offices. I mean think about the last time you went to a coffee house and couldn't find a place to sit because of tables being occupied by patrons using up the entire thing in order to surf the internet or do research for something related to school or work. Managers of coffee houses across the nation have stated that they have seen a drop off in customer patronage after the advent of free wifi in many locations around the country. Coffee houses also report that many customers complain of the double standard that seems to be applied to customers depending on how much and how long they appear to be spending at the coffee house. Students and teenagers who come there for a place to hang out report that they are often thrown out after some time for loitering while others who are doing nothing more than mooching off of free WiFi at the same coffee house can sit for hours and hours.

Beginning last year, the airline industry and coffee industry began working their way into Congress and began calling for the ban of WiFi connectivity outside of normal office spaces. Although hesitant to deal with the issues that will likely stem from this unilateral move, the FCC with backing from Congress has kept this debate relatively quiet and any reports that have surfaced were lost in the ongoing Presidential race. It is likely that there will be calls to rescind this new rule and all officials have agreed that WiFi capability will not be immediately removed from airports, it will be disabled for the time being. It is assumed that after January 2009 when the new President enters office, the debate will come to the forefront again, but in the meantime, by later this afternoon, most airports and coffee houses will no longer be WiFi capable. To quote one leading Congressman familiar with the issue at hand, "April Fools".