WiFi On The Slopes – Squaw Valley USA
I’ve already used Public Wi-Fi service at the base of Squaw Valley Ski Area (desperately trying to appear like I’m working while actually knee deep in powder), but a new expansion of service by WISP Exwire will extend the service not only to all the Squaw base area, but to the mid-mountain base area, and eventually to a portion of the ski terrain. The notion for the ski terrain connectivity is that customers will use it to “catch up on e-mail” and to locate companions while mid-slope. I think that’s a case of Wi-Fi plans overstepping the specs of the technology: If people want that kind of wide-area data coverage, they should get it from their cellular carrier so that they can use it all over Squaw, and most other places in the nation. As for the base and mid-mountain roll-out, that sounds great. Exwire also seems to have what I consider good price points planned. $2.50 per hour, $8 per day, $21 per week, or $29 per month. The flexible prices let customers pay for the kind of connectivity they need, and doesn’t force them to buy 24 hours when they just want to send one important email.
