LAX PASSENGERS CAN SURF BEFORE THEY FLY; Year-long pilot program offers free Internet access to travelers
(LOS ANGELES – January 9, 2001) Passengers at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) can now access the World Wide Web for free using Internet kiosks located in the passenger terminals as part of a year-long pilot program with Neptune Networks of Los Angeles.
Twelve "NetFree 2000" kiosks are already in place at passenger boarding gates – eight near Gate 32 in Terminal 3 and four on the Mezzanine Level of the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT). Four more kiosks will be installed at TBIT.
"LAX is one of the few airports in the United States to offer passengers free Internet-access services," said Ramon Olivares, chief of concessions management for LAX. "It’s an exciting opportunity for passengers to access a world of information at their fingertips while awaiting their flights."
The kiosks are available to the public and are easy to find, standing 42-inches high next to passenger seats for comfortable Web browsing while seated in the gate hold rooms. Users click on any of the program’s advertising sponsors to earn 10 minutes of free high-speed Internet access. After visiting the sponsor’s Web site for 30 seconds, users are free to surf the Internet. At anytime users can click the "More Free Time" icon to again visit a sponsor’s site and gain additional free minutes. Neptune will soon offer the option of paying with a credit card at the cost of 25 cents a minute if users do not wish to view the sponsors’ Web pages.
"More than 50,000 users have already logged on, with each kiosk averaging more than 15 hours of use daily. We believe LAX’s successful experience will lead other airports to offer this means to connect to the Internet," said Todd White, CEO and president of Neptune Networks.
Through high-speed broadband technology, users get speedy access to a host of Web sites to find more information on travel, send and receive e-mail, and browse the Web in general.
The Internet kiosks’ home page also contains user-friendly links to Los Angeles World Airports’ Website and to its four airports – LAX, Ontario International, Van Nuys, and Palmdale Regional. Passengers will find information about ground transportation, eateries, retail stores, and flight schedules.
Other internet connections are on the way at LAX as more than 1,100 payphones will soon be equipped with modems to connect to the Web and with three Internet business centers planned to open in Terminal 7, Terminal 8 and TBIT in February 2001.
