for management excellence goes to.... (drum roll please, while I fumble with the envelope) Forthnet Hotspots.
For three euros an hour you have the privilege of using a Forthnet wifi connection whilst drinking your super priced coffee at Starbucks in Thessaloniki. Alternatively, you could go to an internet cafe and pay 1.5 to 2 euros and, hell, they'll even let you use one of their own PCs.
Imagine if you applied this kind of logic to the restaurant trade ? We will let you use our kitchen facilities but charge double the price of the place next door, even though they actually provide and cook the food for you.
If you read Greek, try taking part in their survey, it's on the left hand side of the page and basically asks you if you think their ADSL service is reasonably priced. I did so and the results say that over 80% of participants think that Forthnet is either extremely expensive or over-priced considering local wages. You'd think that Forthnet would get the message, wouldn't you? Still, their wifi access charges haven't changed in nearly two years, despite a general drop in broadband costs. By the way, I've yet to see anyone use these facilities in Starbucks or anywhere else.
NB If you want to get on the internet in the Starbucks on Nikis St, Thessaloniki, just sit outside and use the free connection that's available in the area.
Run, Forrest, run!!!!
4 comments:
Well, that is quite expensive for wifi access, although I get it for free at hotspots as a Forthnet customer. Honestly, I think these places should offer the wifi for free.
Still, I consider their ADSL packages to be super cheap, especially after what I paid for a cable modem in America.
Really? Because in the UK, Austria, France and Germany they pay far less for much, much faster connections. My brother is paying 45 euros a month for a 2.2mb/s connection and that is considered slow now. Soon they'll be upgrading to 8mb/s.
As far as wifi is concerned I doubt if they are making any money with the set they have now, so why not the service free?
Well, Greece doesn't have ADSL in all areas yet, give them time and I think they'll keep going up. I know OTE is redoing lines to double speeds now, and Forthnet is giving us a free upgrade when that is finished.
When I left America (in 2002) I was getting about the same as I am now (384kpbs) for 60 dollars a month. I'm sure speeds have gotten faster and prices are much cheaper, but right now I'm just happy I am not using dialup anymore. I was one of the first in Nashville to get high speed internet, and I had for about 5 years before I moved here, so the dialup was a real culture shock.
The internet is like a dog, one year in computing is like seven "real" years. So, 2003 is like decades ago as far as the internet is concerned.
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