Atlanta airport opens massive Wi-Fi network

26.10.2005
Von Matt Hamblen

Atlanta"s international airport officially opened a wireless network Wednesday that officials claim is the first airport in the U.S. to provide users with several choices of competitive wireless Internet service providers.

"Our network gives the customer a choice on service and price, while in other hot spots, the customer has no choice and only one service provider," Lance Lyttle, CIO at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, said in an interview.

The Wi-Fi network has 150 access points covering all 5.8 million square feet of terminals and nearby areas, making it one of the largest ever built, he said. In many airports, Wi-Fi access is limited to smaller areas.

Equipment for the network, which cost about US$1.5 million to build, was provided by Cisco Systems Inc., Lyttle said. Combined with other network improvements, including new cell phone towers to support wireless voice and data calls and a new network operations center, the project is expected to cost about $4.5 million.

The three wireless Internet service providers at Atlanta"s airport are Boingo Wireless Inc., Concourse Communications Group LLC and Sprint Nextel Corp. All have contracts with the airport authority, which owns the network, Lyttle said.