The blogosphere is buzzing about a new service called RovAir. Rather than paying high hotel fees or subscribing to long term (and pricey) broadband aircard services, travelers can spend as little as $5.95 per day for internet servcie. RovAir ships one of their cards to you overnight, or sends it by messenger if you're close by, and with minimal effort you're connected wherever you go.
They'll connect you while traveling on the train, while staying in hotels and even waiting for your flight at the airport.
For business travelers, hotel WiFi is as important as a cell phone. Each month, I fly about 30,000 miles and spend a third of my nights in hotel rooms. I've found that only about half the hotels I stay in offer free in-room WiFi. The rest charge up to $14.95 per day for internet access, which is ridiculous considering the amount of money business travelers already spend at hotel bars and restaurants, gift shops and other services.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Affordable Travel Wifi
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Develop a budget-friendly travel WiFi service that provides reliable connection for travelers at a low cost.
- Portable Internet Access
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Create a portable internet access device that can be easily carried by travelers and provide seamless connectivity wherever they go.
- Disrupting Hotel Wifi
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Introduce a disruptive technology or service that challenges the high fees of hotel WiFi and offers affordable or complimentary WiFi for guests.
Where This Applies
- Telecommunications
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Explore ways to provide cost-effective and reliable internet services for travelers, leveraging advancements in telecommunications technology.
- Hospitality
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Incorporate complimentary or low-cost WiFi as a standard amenity in hotels to enhance guest experience and disrupt the current model of charging high fees for internet access.
- Technology
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Develop innovative portable internet devices or solutions that offer seamless connectivity for travelers, revolutionizing the way people stay connected on the go.
