Many attendees of CES 2007 experienced a rude awakening Saturday when they discovered that The Venetian/Sands Expo Center was offering Wi-Fi access - for the outrageous price of $399.95 for two days.
According to the Web site for SEEnet, the Sands Expo and Convention Center's network, the fee for Wi-Fi access included $9.95 for 30 minutes of access, $39.95 for four hours of access, and then $399.95 for a two day period. Typically, most hotels these days charge around $10 to $12 for a full 24 hours of Internet access. Therefore, the price of Wi-Fi at the Sands represents an almost astronomical markup - around 600%. Media members were allowed to use limited broadband connections in the press room for free. However, most conference goers and exhibitors who were looking for affordable Internet access weren't so lucky.
How does the Sands Expo and Convention Center justify this outrageous rate? We weren't able to reach someone at the Sands Saturday, but we did find out that the Wi-Fi rates weren't jacked specifically for CES 2007 and that the convention center has been charging $399.95 for 48 hours of Wi-Fi at least as recently as 2005.
On the SEEnet welcome page, the Sands offers potential customers a brief message. Pay particular attention to the word "value" in the last sentence:
"Welcome! We are pleased that you have decided to use our high-speed Internet access solution utilizing Sands Expo and Convention Center's (SECC), advanced IP networking technology
-Sands Internet Department"
We here at TG Publishing knew the cost of Wi-Fi had increased, but this is rather ridiculous. At a gigantic conference like CES, the only thing that could make it harder for people to do their jobs than absurdly expensive Internet access would be having no access at all. But with Wi-Fi access at one of the biggest hubs for CES costing more than most hotels this week, we might as well be living in the Dark Ages.