Mediacom, Quad-City International Airport Partner to OfferWireless Access

December 23, 2003

Mediacom, Airport Partner to Offer Wireless Access
Quad City Times, IA


Quad-City travelers who hate losing precious time waiting in the airport soon 
will be able to use that time more productively by checking their e-mail or 
surfing the Web. 

Through a unique partnership between the Quad-City International Airport and 
Mediacom, passengers will have WiFi wireless Internet access at several 
locations throughout the airport terminal and concourse. The access will be 
offered free of charge by Mediacom beginning Jan. 5. 

“Tens of thousands of air travelers pass through our gates every month,” 
said Jami McLeod, the airport’s finance and administration director. “The 
ability to check e-mail and communicate via the Internet are important 
enhancements to the services we provide.”

With the WiFi, or Wireless Fidelity, system, those travelers with either laptop 
computers or personal data assistants equipped for wireless can access the 
Internet. 
 
The system, designed by Mediacom, deploys access through units that are 
connected to the Mediacom cable modems, which provide a high-speed connection 
to the Internet to wireless users. The equipment is being installed at the 
airport free by Mediacom.

Although WiFi is finding its way into coffee shops, bookstores and medical 
offices, the idea behind the partnership is that “use at the airport will 
translate into demand for the product at home and at the office,” said Scott 
Westerman, Mediacom’s region vice president.

For the airport, it is another service to help set it apart. “WiFi technology 
has special appeal to business travelers who can make more productive use of 
their time,” McLeod said. “We see this as a great public service and yet 
another way to showcase our airport as a 21st century transportation center.” 

With no financial investment on the airport’s behalf and free access for 
passengers, she said “It’s a win-win for everybody.”

McLeod said only a few airports are offering such a service. For the larger 
facilities, it is being looked at “as a revenue-generating model,” she 
said, adding that those airports are wrestling with issues about working with 
an outside firm as the provider, as well as how users will get billed and how 
the airport would be compensated. 

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