NB: This is a guest article by Graeme Powell, managing director for EMEA at iBAHN.
This is a question that we have been pondering - why the iPad is the final nail in the "all internet is free" coffin?
Here are some points to consider:
- It is the fastest selling consumer electronics device in history.
- The iPad is the first truly video-centric guest Internet device.
- iPad places huge demands on hotel Wi-Fi systems, consuming 400% more wifi data on a monthly basis than the average iPhone, iPod or Android device, according to a recent report from Meraki.
So why should hoteliers care?The average hotel’s wifi system is already overloaded. Some 60% of surveyed travelers in America, Europe and Australia indicate they already have had a poor downloading experience in a hotel because the system was slow.
The advent of the iPad can only increase the number of unhappy guests. A key driver of future success for hotels will be the ability to provide guests with the same level of technology capabilities they have in their homes and offices.
With 67% of guests stating they will not return to a hotel where they have had a poor technology experience, the ability to provide good experiences in using the same devices guests use at home while they are traveling is now an imperative.
Why worry about iPad?
A recent YPartnership study of frequent business travelers indicates that nearly 30% of respondents say they are likely to carry only a tablet device like the iPad when on future business trips.
Then, consider that more than 25 million iPads have already been sold and the message should be clear: hoteliers must quickly be able to support these devices.
What’s the relevance to hoteliers?
To understand the impact of the iPad, consider that three million iPads were sold in the first 80 days of its availability – more than 37,000 per day.
And, by the iPad 2 launch in March 2011 (less than a year from the iPad 1 launch), more than 15 million iPads had been sold – selling more than all other tablet PCs combined since the iPad’s release.
Gartner Group, a leading US-based research firm, predicts 100 million iPads will be sold by the end of 2012. And that’s only the Apple tablet format — there are more than five dozen competitors.
According to a 2011 Yesawich Partnership survey, 40% of business travelers have incomes well above the norm in developed countries, thus providing higher disposable income. They are further likely to spend it disproportionately on new technologies like the iPad.
What makes iPad different?
There are several characteristics of the iPad that make it different from other devices currently carried by hotel guests, such as laptops and smartphones – which mean that hoteliers will have a new set of requirements in order to support their guests’ activities:
- It is designed, built and used for the viewing and dissemination of video. According to Cisco, video traffic is more than 600,000 times more data intensive than equivalent text.
- It is driven by a highly intuitive user interface, thus requiring no significant existing computer skills. New users are up and running with an iPad at an average of one hour. (Apple)
- The majority – some 75% — of iPads are equipped with wifi, which is already creating hotel network/bandwidth problems – especially when coupled with the high video needs of iPad users.
The antenna receptivity on iPads is significantly lower than other devices, particularly laptops, creating a setting for negative guest experiences.
The following chart shows that mobile devices like the iPad are (on average) about 30% worse in receptivity compared to devices like laptop computers.
Based on network data, iBAHN estimates that approximately 25% of the devices on the iBAHN network are now iPads.
And considering the fact that this device was specifically designed to allow users access both to their own content, as well as cloudbased content, and that video streaming requires significantly more bandwidth for an acceptable experience, it is easy to understand the coming challenge for hotels.
In fact, the average iPad user downloads three to four times more data than they would on a smartphone, directly due to video download and streaming demands. And, The antenna reception of the iPad 2 is worse than the iPad 1, not better.
So what?
This means if your hotel’s Wi-Fi system was designed prior to 2010 around laptop antenna reception, your iPad-carrying guest is likely to have a bad experience. We've observed hotels where the iPad works at the desk but not on the bed or vice versa!
Data versus voice traffic growth is another indicator of guest behaviour changes in hotels – much like mobile phones changed the telephony picture in the hospitality industry.
In looking at the following iBAHN network usage chart, while there is continued incremental growth in voicetraffic, the geometric growth for data (read: video) traffic will change the requirements for hoteliers.
So what’s the takeaway?
Hoteliers need to prepare to support their guests who are currently traveling with iPads, and should expect that number to continue to grow rapidly.
Among those preparations, hoteliers should consider these four points:
- If hotels’ wifi system was designed before 2010, it likely needs to be reconfigured to support the video demand arising from new devices like the iPad.
- Unlimited free Wi-Fi makes little sense in this new environment, unless hotels have unlimited bandwidth, along with unlimited budget to continue adding additional bandwidth.
- Get in front of the iPad curve by identifying a partner with depth of experience in developing and implementing these new system designs before it is a scramble to keep up with guests’ needs.
- Analyze the capacity of your existing bandwidth circuits to the Internet at peak hours to anticipate guest satisfaction levels before it is too late.
In short, the advent of the iPad has created both a challenge and an opportunity for the hospitality industry – this device has already begun to show its power to change how travelers work and play while staying at hotels.
The hotel industry has a unique opportunity to show the worlds’ travelers that it is in synch with their needs, now and in the future.
NB: This is a guest article by Graeme Powell, managing director for EMEA at iBAHN.