Brazilian airports to get free Wi-Fi within a year
Several key Brazilian airports will start offering free Wi-Fi will within the next year as a major implementation starts this week.
The roll out of the service will take place in four stages within a period of one year from the start of the contract on December 1, with total investment of R$25m ($9.6m).
Government-owned airport operator Infraero has contracted supplier Linktel via a public tender to implement and support the service at the 43 venues that do not offer the service yet.
In addition, the new contract will also see an increase in connection time at the 17 venues that already offer free Internet access. Currently, the airports that already offer free Wi-Fi for domestic and international passengers, provide the service for 15 minutes only.
Under the new model implemented by Linktel, this will be extended to 30 minutes upon registration plus an additional 15 minutes if the user is willing to answer a Infraero survey.
The first phase of the roll out will see the service introduced within 120 days at airports in São Paulo (Congonhas), Rio de Janeiro (Santos Dumont), Porto Alegre, Salvador, Recife, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Cuiabá e Pampulha.
A second phase will be completed within 200 days and will see free Wi-Fi implemented at the following airports: Belém, Florianópolis, Goiânia, Vitória, Aracaju, Campo Grande, Foz do Iguaçu, João Pessoa, Maceió, São Luís, Boa Vista, Palmas, Porto Velho, Rio Branco and Teresina.
With a completion deadline of 280 days from the start of the contract, the third phase will roll out the service at the airports of Londrina, Macaé, Campo de Marte, Navegantes, Bagé, Bacacheri, Carajás, Forquilhinha, Campos, Altamira, Ilhéus, Imperatriz, Jacarepaguá, Juazeiro do Norte and Joinville.
The fourth and final phase will see the service going live within a year, with free W-Fi introduced at the airports of Campina Grande, Marabá, Montes Claros, Macapá, Parnaíba, Petrolina, Carlos Prates, São José dos Campos, Santarém, Tefé, Tabatinga, Uruguaiana, Uberlândia, Uberaba, Corumbá, Cruzeiro do Sul, Brigadeiro Protásio/Belém, Pelotas, Ponta Porã and Paulo Afonso.