Mar. 31--Travelers without laptop computers can soon go online -- for a fee -- in the terminal at Harrisburg International Airport.
PA Online Ltd. will provide Internet access at kiosks in the terminal for $3.95 for the first 15 minutes. Users will be able to pay with a credit card or debit card.
Free wireless Internet access is available in the terminal to anyone with a laptop that is equipped for Wi-Fi use, said Scott Miller, spokesman for the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority, which owns HIA.
But many business travelers carry company-owned laptops that are blocked from going online in Wi-Fi zones for security reasons, said Pamela A. DeLissio, CEO and president of PA Online.
"You are leaving your laptop open to be hacked" in a Wi-Fi zone, she said.
PA Online is an Internet service provider based in Harrisburg. Founded in 1994, PA Online provides Internet access and Web hosting for business and residential customers.
DeLissio believes the PA Online service will be successful because many travelers passing through the terminal don't carry computers or they have laptops that are not equipped with Wi-Fi hardware. The kiosks being installed by PA Online will be available to everyone.
PA Online will install a kiosk in the public area before people pass through security checkpoints. A second kiosk will be installed for travelers who have passed through security and are waiting for a flight.
A half-hour of Internet access will cost $5.95 and an hour will cost $9.95. The airport authority will get 3.5 percent of gross revenue collected by PA Online after the cost of installing the kiosks.
The authority approved a one-year contract with PA Online to provide the service. After the first year, the contract is renewable on a monthly basis.
DeLissio said the HIA contract is the first deal PA Online has made to provide Internet access on a fee-for-service basis in a facility is used by the public.
"We are actively looking for other like opportunities" if the HIA service works, she said.
Verizon Communications Inc. used to offer free Internet access at public phone booths in New York City for Verizon Online customers. Verizon spokeswoman Sharon Shaffer said the company started phasing out that service almost a year ago.
Some stations were used very little, and the spread of free Wi-Fi access throughout New York City has made the stations largely unnecessary, Shaffer said. Verizon has no Internet access kiosks in any major transportation centers, she said.
Pa.Net, a Mechanicsburg-based Internet service provider, has been setting up Wi-Fi zones in public libraries and elsewhere throughout central Pennsylvania. A representative of Pa.Net did not return a call Thursday for comment.
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