A hybrid operating model for wireless hotspot businesses

Wireless hotspots in public venues offer customers the prospect of broadband Internet connectivity that nomadic workers would experience in a corporate environment. Hotspots not only benefit users but also provide opportunities for businesses, such as hotspot wholesalers and telecommunication companies, to enter the market to gain a competitive edge. Many hotspot players are establishing partnership and collaboration, and as a result they have developed business operating models to manage the hotspot effectively. However, we believe that, although these current models to be profitable to some companies, they are likely to be a burden to users and therefore likely to limit growth in this area. The paper identifies the existing hotspot business models and proposes a hybrid hotspot operational model with advertising as the primary feature to encourage a wider deployment of hotspots. A technical implementation of the system software that provides the operational capabilities such that local advertisement can be displayed on a user machine in return for 'free' Internet access is also presented.