
Reduce the downtime - by wireless or by reducing time waiting
By Tony Hallett
Published: 30 March 2005 16:10 GMT
Waiting in departure lounges for planes is not only a pain - it could be costing British business around £600m every year.
Around 35 per cent of business travellers spend three to four hours every month waiting for flights and BT - which serves parts of this addressable market through its Openzone Wi-Fi hotspots - has taken that and other figures to come up with the total of half a billion pounds plus (£599m to be precise) in annual wastage.
BT and others, whether using Wi-Fi or other wireless technologies - note the strong 3G signals at most European airports these days - are targeting this business traveller market.
Today's research found that 88 per cent of those surveyed feel it 'important' to be contactable. Seventy-three per cent said they feel the need to be reachable has increased over the past two years.
However, the time from entering a terminal to sitting waiting to board a plane looks set to shorten. This week international airports owner BAA talked about a reduction of that ordeal to just 15 minutes.
Last week silicon.com spoke to SITA chairman and BA CIO Paul Coby about the possibility of airlines adopting RFID electronic tagging technology, potentially for documents as well as luggage.
Of course there are those who take the opportunity...
Much Travelled
What a load of rubbish that column was.
Business ...
Nick Ford
Agreed. I use airport time as private time. I can ...
Simon Allen
If I sat in the office 24 hours a day glued to my ...
Bob Hail
I spend 8 hrs a month an average waiting for plan...
Pete Wallace
Software Architect This wireless comms semiconductor/silicon company is looking for a Software Architect, to assist systems architects on various ...
This is a high-profile, business-critical role within my client and as such will require an experienced Account Manager/Sales Manager who is able to ...
Experience of wireless communication protocols such as Bluetooth, UWB or Wi-Fi and competency using laboratory and tracing equipment will be an ...
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