On Wed, 15 Feb 2012, Gilbert Wilson wrote:
All:
A client of mine is putting together a conference. They're a nonprofit that
does some really great work. To help participants promote the work of all the
organizations involved they want to provide Internet access to everyone so they
can tweet, email, etc during the conference proceedings. However, the hotel
wants $10,000 for a 1.5mb line.
I half jokingly told them that they could get faster Internet if they setup
some soup cans and screamed AT commands into them.
Anyone have tips on how to negotiate better Internet at a better price from a
hotel?
A lot of it depends on what connectivity the hotel has.
$10K for a 1.5Mb line seems quite high, this is on the high side for them
to add a permanent T-1 line and pay for it for a year.
If the hotel has no Internet connectivity, they may be wanting you to do
exactly that, pay them for the full cost that they will have to pay for
the line (not just for the time you are using it), plus a markup.
So talk to the Hotel more and find out why they are talking such a high
price.
See if you can arrange to pull in one or more DSL lines for a short time
(and call local ISPs to see what they are willing to do with less than a
1-2 year commitment). In all of these conversations, point out that you
are a nonprofit (especially if you are a full 501c3 nonprofit) and you may
be able to get them to donate some of this.
Also, see what options you have in terms of wireless Internet. besides the
3g/4g service, do you have a metropoliten wireless provider in the area?
(and if so, can it reach the hotel in question?)
Once you get the bandwidth to the hotel, you are just starting to tackle
the issues, but the discussion of how to use that bandwidth is a
completely different discussion.
David Lang
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