Building Your Brand Through Community Hotspots

By Rachel Brown

When a newcomer rolls into town and asks where the local hot spot is, chances are he doesn’t want directions to the bingo hall. Instead, it’s likely that he’s looking for a Wi-Fi network, which translates literally into "wireless fidelity " and refers to a system that allows multiple users with wireless-enabled devices—like smartphones and laptops—to get online simultaneously and share a high-speed Internet connection. Coverage can be the size of a room or two, a building or extend out a few miles.

Wi-Fi first appeared on the scene in 1999, and throughout the new century, it has rapidly spread across the country. According to OpenWiFiSpots, an online directory of free Wi-Fi networks, there are 62,280 hot spots in the United States, with 120 of those coming online within the week this article was written (assuming a steady growth rate, that would extrapolate to nearly another 2,000 added to that total by the time this issue goes to press).

The type of devices that can access Wi-Fi networks include smartphones, laptops, personal computers, video game consoles, MP3 players, printers, digital cameras and even digital picture frames. According to the latest statistics from In-Stat, a market research firm, there are currently more than 500 million Wi-Fi-enabled devices worldwide, and that number is expected to increase to 2 billion by 2014.

Some Wi-Fi users pay for their connections; others get them for free (the term "hot spot" itself implies "free access"). According to JiWire, a mobile media company, Wi-Fi usage grows more than 17% a quarter, and more than half of all Wi-Fi locations in the United States are free.

Crunch these numbers and analyses and it’s enough to make a traditional accountant shudder when thinking about this phenomenon as a business model. But talk to folks at small telephone companies and cooperatives around the country, and many will report that they’re embracing Wi-Fi and finding it a boon for business.

"We’re Not in Kansas Anymore"

Maybe the folks in Lenora, Kan., have gotten sick of that famous line from "The Wizard of Oz," which implies that the Sunflower State is not a happening place. Nex-Tech, a subsidiary of Rural Telephone Service (Lenora, Kan.), has been offering free Wi-Fi networks for several years. "We’re spread across our entire footprint of 19 communities with about 100 hot spots," explained Justin McClung, Nex-Tech’s Internet solutions manager, adding that the bulk of these are in coffee shops, libraries and restaurants. Some of the telco’s more unusual hot spot venues also include baseball parks, a stock car racetrack, a laundromat, and even some hair salons.

"It’s free in that anyone off the street can use this," McClung said, adding that even though the Wi-Fi users don’t have to be telco subscribers, the service has filled its purpose in terms of branding. "It gets our name out there for branding because users have to log on to an agreement page and see our marketing message."