Font ResizeFree Wi-Fi Internet access is coming to Salt Lake City International Airport next month after travelers grumbled for years that only paid wireless access was available at Utah's biggest airport.
Starting July 1, Wi-Fi will be available without charge in all terminals and concourses, as well as the rental car area, airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann said Monday.
"We did receive some strong public input requesting it," Gann said. "It's become an expectation in public buildings to have free Wi-Fi."
Wi-Fi allows laptop and smart phone users to connect to the Internet anywhere, making some jobs portable. Travelers have embraced the technology because it offers broadband-speed access to the World Wide Web without cables.
The service will be run by the airport on equipment it will take over from Boingo, the operating arm of Concourse Communications. Its five-year contract expires at the end of this month.
Initially, the airport will supply the service without advertisements. Gann said that may change because the airport is giving up about $100,000 a year in revenue from Boingo. Airport officials are also weighing whether to install filters to screen out pornography and online gambling sites, which the Utah Transit Authority is doing on its FrontRunner trains and express buses.
Travelers are happy they won't have to pay the airport's $7.95-per-hour charge to access the Internet.
"It's certainly been a frustrating point for
Free Wi-Fi is spreading across U.S. airports, but there are several locations where it isn't available. Although Denver, Las Vegas and New Orleans are on a list compiled by Airports Council International, some big names are missing -- Los Angeles International, New York's John F. Kennedy International and Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta, for example.
"It's grown tremendously over the last five years, and passengers find it very convenient because it makes their lives easier," said Eileen Denne, a council spokeswoman.
