Richard Davies wrote: The UK has a good crop of technology pioneers in cloud computing - for example ElasticHosts, FlexiScale, Flexiant, OnApp - and also some strong government initiatives such as G-Cloud.
We will have to see whether this kind of technical leadership converts into swift mass-market adoption or not.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) today announced that it is working with
airports across the country as well as Boingo Wireless, Advanced
Wireless Group, Airport Marketing Income and others to provide free
Wi-Fi as a holiday gift now through January 15, 2010. The gift currently
includes 47 airports, including Las Vegas, San Jose, Boston, Baltimore,
Burbank, Houston, Indianapolis, Seattle, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando,
St. Louis and Charlotte. Additionally, as a result of this project,
Burbank and Seattle airports will begin offering airport-wide free Wi-Fi
indefinitely.
"We're very happy to extend our Holiday Wi-Fi gift to the millions of
people who will spend time in airports over the next few months," said
Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products and User Experience at
Google. "We know that this is a very hectic travel season for people,
and we hope that free Wi-Fi will make both traveling and connecting with
friends and family a little bit easier."
"As a pioneer in providing complimentary Wi-Fi to airport customers, we
are very excited about Google partnering with McCarran International
along with other airports across the country to bring holiday cheer to
so many travelers," said Rosemary A. Vassiliadis, Deputy Director, Clark
County Department of Aviation.
“Indianapolis International Airport is thrilled to be a part of the
Google Holiday Wi-Fi campaign," said Jeremiah Wise, Treasurer,
Indianapolis Airport Authority. "Free and open access to the Internet
has been a key passenger service initiative since the opening of our new
airport. The involvement of sponsors such as Google helps to ensure we
can continue to keep Wi-Fi free.”
The upcoming Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holiday is one of
the heaviest travel seasons of the year, and according to FAA estimates,
over 100 million people will pass through the participating airports
between now and January 15, 2010. Due to bad weather and other
extenuating circumstances, travelers often have extra time on their
hands in the airport after they pass through security - 70 minutes, on
average. Not surprisingly, having an Internet connection during this
time can make a difference. A recent study conducted by the Wi-Fi
Alliance reported that 50% of business travelers take red-eye flights in
order to be "reachable" during business hours, and an overwhelming 82%
said that being connected through Wi-Fi would help solve that problem.
“Google gets this year’s Wi-Fi Santa award for sponsoring complimentary
access in dozens of airports, both to the traveler’s and airport’s
benefit,” said Dave Hagan, president and CEO of Boingo Wireless. “In
addition to the obvious bonus holiday travelers will enjoy, sponsored
access will increase overall Wi-Fi usage in the participating airports
and help supplement the airport’s increasingly important non-airline
incremental revenue.”
“Google’s sponsorship of free Wi-Fi in the airports during this holiday
season is a welcome gift to airports and Wi-Fi operators alike that
continue to strive to find the balance between customer service and
revenue concerns; especially during these difficult economic times,”
said Scott Phillips, President and CEO of Advanced Wireless Group and
Electronic Media Systems.
As another way to pass on the spirit of the season, once they log on to
networks in any of the participating airports, travelers will have the
option make a donation to Engineers Without Borders, the One Economy
Corporation or the Climate Savers Computing Initiative. Google will
match the donations made across all the networks up to $250,000, and the
airport network that generates the highest amount per passenger by
January 1, 2010 will receive $15,000 to donate to the local nonprofit of
their choice.
In total, the gift will include 47 airports that together handle
over 500 million passengers each year, or about 35% of the total number
of annual passengers in the U.S. In October, Google and Virgin America
announced that, during this same period, all passengers on Virgin
America will have free in-flight Wi-Fi. Five of the airports
participating in the program are also Virgin America destinations:
Boston, Seattle, Las Vegas, San Diego and Virgin America's newest
destination launching November 18, Fort Lauderdale.
More information about the networks, including a full list of
participating airports, is available at www.freeholidaywifi.com.
About Google Inc.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people
around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford
Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top Web
property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising
program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while
enhancing the overall Web experience for users. Google is headquartered
in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
For more information, visit www.google.com.
Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product
names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are
associated.