ePub: Things are hotting up for Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi hotspots for web surfers are on the verge of an explosion - and pubs should be at the centre of the revolution.
That's the view of Joe Brunoli, boss of Free Hotspots, one of Europe's fastest growing players which doubled its presence in the UK last year.
According to Joe, the convergence of Wi-Fi equipped mobile phones with the growth of social networking opens up a huge opportunity for licensees.
"Wi-Fi is no longer just for laptop users," he says. "The new generation of mobile phones, the i-Phone for instance, are all Wi-Fi equipped. By 2009 it's estimated that 85 per cent of new mobiles will have a Wi-Fi chip.
"So phones will not just be phones. People will be social networking through a handheld."
The change will attract a new type of user, he believes, taking the market well beyond today's web surfer. "As well as the nomadic laptop user we will see a truly mobile market where people will want to connect up to the internet wherever they are - and that means the demand for Wi-Fi in pubs will shoot up," Joe says.
Free Hotspot, which, as the name suggests, offers a free service to licensees and surfers, paid for by advertising on the home page that comes up when Wi-Fi users log on, is currently in around 300, mainly food-led, pubs, and trials are underway with "a major pub group".
It has also launched a new service called Edge which, for a fee of £69 a month, allows publicans and pub chains to have their own advertising.
"We want them to use Wi-Fi as a marketing tool as well as a service for their customers," says Joe. "We want pubs to get something more out of it."
It's one of modern life's frustrations. You're down the pub and the battery runs out on your mobile phone. You need to make a call but you can't even get at the number. Do you really have to go home to charge it?
Now there's an ingenious solution that could not only give your customers an added service but also make money for charity.
The Juice Jack is a universal phone charger that works for most makes of mobile. Running off the mains or its own battery it sits on your bar and the customer simply plugs in their phone for a recharge. Nigel Williams, the man behind the innovation, aims to get the Juice Jack into every pub in the country.
"Phone charging is a natural additional service for bars that can keep customers on their premises drinking their beer and eating their food," he says. "It's a low-cost solution which doesn't take up valuable retail floorspace.
"Customers use it for free but are encouraged to text a donation to charity, so there is no hassle for the barstaff, the pub gets custom as well as the brownie points for offering a free service."Nigel is selling the Juice Jack at £29.99, including VAT, delivery and point-of-sale material.
"If only one person a day uses it and stays in the pub for one more drink it means £1,000 in extra revenue for the licensee," he adds.
For more information, and to buy a Juice Jack, go to www.juicejack.com
