Logan's Wi-Fi chokehold
WAITING FOR flights at Logan Airport is harrying enough without Massport insisting that travelers use a single company for wireless Internet access. The Federal Communications Commission ought to open up the airport to competition for this service.
Continental Airlines filed a complaint with the FCC last year after the Massachusetts Port Authority shut down the service offered to members of the airline's President's Club in its frequent flyer lounge. Massport didn't want the service, free for club members, to compete with the airport-wide Internet access it was offering through Advanced Wireless Group for $7.95 a day.
Massport contends that Wi-Fi competition might interfere with essential airport communications. Continental disputes this, with justification. It had been operating its own service for a year without causing any disruptions, as it does at other airports. And Massport would be foolish to assign important security information to these frequencies, whose chief purpose is to facilitate public access to the Internet.
The real issue seems to be money. The authority may have a point that its control of Wi-Fi services has allowed it to cover every nook in the airport. But the Internet should not be considered a profit center at Logan. Rather, it is an amenity intended to make the airport experience more productive -- or at least less annoying -- to air travelers.
Continental has gained an unusual ally in Boston's Partners HealthCare system, which owns Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's hospitals. It also leases space in private buildings throughout the Boston area. Staff members need to communicate confidential medical information freely without having to go through a system mandated by whoever owns the property. ``We might be forced to adopt a wireless security and protection scheme below what we think is appropriate," John Glaser, Partners chief information officer, said in an interview this week. Massport contends that airports should be allowed a special monopoly because of security concerns. Glaser believes that sensible regulations can handle any worries about Wi-Fi signals interfering with each other. And once that is dealt with, the security issue vanishes.
According to a report from Reuters news service, Kevin Martin, the FCC chairman, is seeking the support of a majority of the five-member commission to end the monopoly. Federal telecommunications policy promotes competition among Internet providers. The FCC should act quickly to put Logan in accord with this policy.
