It’s less about the actual hardware that hotels provide guests and more providing connectivity so that they can use their own devices to customize their stay.
Airlines such as Delta and JetBlue are finding ways to offer free Wi-Fi products to their customers and that could become the norm as in-flight Wi-Fi becomes pervasive.
Quality of Wi-Fi is becoming as big a conversation as cost, especially for branded hotels catering to business travelers and the group market. We can't reiterate enough, though, that free is what consumers expect.
Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and the U.S. hotel industry as a whole got a black eye from pursuing this FCC petition seeking clarification on Wi-Fi jamming. They bowed to intense pressure from the FCC and in some cases the hotels' loyal guests.
Outfitting aircraft with Wi-Fi is part of the battle. As Routehappy points out, the quality is still lacking with fewer than one percent of flights in the U.S. equipped with Wi-Fi that has the bandwidth to stream video.
Marriott's customers resoundingly told the chain not to mess with their personal Wi-Fi devices and Marriott had little choice but to concede this battle. Other chains will likely feel the heat, as well. Still the war isn't over and the FCC will ultimately have much to say about where all of this is headed.
Gogo wants its Wi-Fi users to believe the notion that it is primarily monitoring customers' Internet usage to block improper video streaming to safeguard bandwidth and the browsing experience for everyone on the plane. Passengers who are aware of the controversy will have to decide if they trust Big Brother up in the air.