Long check-in hours, frequent flight cancellations and transfers have contributed to keeping passengers longer than they expect at airports. As a result, passengers have come to expect to have access to free and robust WiFi when they are at the airport. In anticipation, many passengers come along with their laptops, tablets and mobile devices eager whip it out once they are inside an airport terminal.
In Nigeria, there are 5 functional international airports, 12 airstrips and 20 local airports operated by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). The airstrips or airfields scattered across the country are mostly built by the Nigeria Air Force and multinational oil companies. In all the airports, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) and the new Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja, are the only ones that have functional public WiFi that is free for a short while.
“We also have free and efficient free WiFi in the new international terminals in NAIA and Port Harcourt International Airport,” Henrietta Yakubu, acting general manager, FAAN Corporate Affairs, told BusinessDay via WhatsApp message.
This writer was at the Port Harcourt International Airport on Saturday and could not access the free WiFi at the airport. He was also unable to find any passenger who said they had ever used it before. He also recently tried to access the WiFi at Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri but could not find any that belong to the airport or FAAN.
Any frequent user of MMIA would notice the many WiFi addresses once you put on your phone, laptop, and tablets. Apart from the addresses owned by the airlines, there are a few WiFis that appear free.
LOS which was installed in 2015 is the only truly free WiFi at the airport. It is also the first public airport WiFi in Nigeria and a legacy project of the Osita Chidoka, former Minister for Aviation in collaboration with the Lagos Airport Services. While most airport WiFis across the world have extended period of time you can access it for free, users of the LOS can connect for free sessions of 20 minutes. Passengers using any of the lounges at the terminal including the Premium Lounge, Skyway Premium Lounge, Gabfol Lounge, British Airways Lounge, and First Lounge, among others, can access it for unlimited free hours.
To access the LOS passenger WiFi, users with mobile devices or laptops can connect to SSID LOS Free WiFi. There is a form that users will need to fill.
Another public WiFi at the Lagos airport is the Glo FAAN WiFi. According to a flier sent to BusinessDay by Globacom, the WiFi which passengers can access via their laptops, mobile phones, tablets or games console requires a valid Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number (MSISDN). The number includes a country code and a National Destination Code which identifies the subscriber’s operator. In simpler terms, the MSISDN is the phone number that relates to the SIM card in a mobile device. It is often used to refer to a virtual mobile number (VMN).
Each SIM card has a code known as an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) which uniquely identifies the SIM card itself. The MSISDN identifies the network to which that SIM card is subscribed, so whilst the IMSI is fixed for the life of the SIM, the MSISDN can change as different networks are subscribed to.
For the Glo FAAN WiFi, the user will receive their temporary sign in password on that number. Upon receipt of the SMS containing the temporary password, the customer completes the sign-in process and is awarded 10 minutes free on the service. When the free 10 minutes are exhausted, the customer is directed to the portal where he now signs into his account and buys a subscription of his choice.
Aside from the ridiculously short time for free access, the Glo MSISDN requirement also raises complications for most passengers who just want a public airport WiFi with simple requirements to access.
“I have tried to log in to the Glo FAAN WiFi but have never been successful,” said Isaac Onyema, a passenger who spoke to BusinessDay at the Arrivals terminal at MMIA. Asked whether he was aware he needed an MSISDN to access the WiFi, he expressed ignorance of what the term meant.
In many airports across the world, passengers with their local phone numbers can access WiFi as long as they are willing to give up their emails in most cases. In fact, some airports like the Lisbon International Airport, Portugal provides WiFi access on a click of Terms of Agreement.
The reality however is, whereas free WiFi has become very common, many countries spend a lot of money to install and maintain their WiFi infrastructure. It’s a structure that not only supports travellers, but it also supports airline tenants, concessions, and the airport’s own operations. This is why most airports find it a constant challenge to provide strong wireless systems that support the needs of passengers and operations.
FRANK ELEANYA
