I am starting to write this blog entry while waiting in Dubai International Airport  for my delayed Emirates flight to Lahore where I will be speaking at an event and workshops organised by the Pakistan Software Houses Association. 

Back in August, the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) launched a wireless internet service at this extremely modern and well designed shopping mall (as most airports now seem to have become).  It affords passengers and visitors free and open access to the Internet on their laptops, PDA’s, and smart phones, in most parts of both the Arrival and Departure areas.  The service is currently being expanded throughout all of Dubai airport under the second phase of this wireless connectivity project and is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

 “The launch of the free of charge wireless Internet service at Dubai International Airport is a milestone for the DCA, and is indicative of our keenness to keep abreast of technology which improves the services we provide to the passengers,” claimed Jamal Al Hai, Chairman DCA Executive board and Director, Strategy and Management Excellence at DCA, at the time of the August launch.  He rightly noted that the service would be a great convenience for passengers, who will now be able to stay connected and online.  “With Dubai fast emerging as a global trade and tourism hub, the wireless Internet service acquires a new meaning.  Millions of passengers pass through Dubai International Airport each year, and a rising number of them depend on such a service for business, information and entertainment,” said Al Hai.  He added that passengers transiting through Dubai International Airport would derive immense benefit from the free service adding,  “Telecommunication has shrunk the world, and there is an increasing need for services that keep people connected to their business and work, and to have access to information on the go.  We at DCA attach great importance to this need of the passengers.”
So, well done Mr Al Hai and Dubai airport - you get it!   Indeed, your open access WiFi stance is a far cry from the pathetic policy of the likes of British Airports Authority (BAA) in the UK and most other international airports, based on making a few additional dollars from their retail real estate -  sorry, I mean 'airport' real estate - by selling their passenger/customers into ransom for a few extra dollars so the telcos can operate an archaic 'paid-for-hot-spot' strategy. 

So give me Dubai airport anyday!   But, hold on a minute!  Having been using my laptop for much of today, my battery is alarmingly low and hence in order to use the 'free-WiFi' amenity here to retrieve my emails, I need to access a 13 amp power socket.   Also my laptop, once booted, quickly achieves the temperature of an inverted frying pan, so I also need a table on which to rest it - and having ageing bones, a chair to sit on.  Simple requirements, eh?
Don't you believe it!  Let me tell you, " table + chair + adjacent 13amp mains socket" does not exist anywhere in the public area of Dubai International Airport.  Not nowhere, and  I know as I have scoured every inch of this airport.  There is no such thing as a power socket adjacent to a table and chair.  I have finally managed to get access to this simple "triple play"  by finding a remote corner in the business centre of the Dubai International Hotel off Terminal 1 and ... would you believe it, my flight to Lahore has finally be called.  Shut down the laptop.

Re-booting in the Leaders Inn Hotel in Lahore where I have finally arrived at 6am in the morning having spent 2 hours battling with the Pakistani immigration service which clearly regards 'selling visas' at $110 a go, as a major export industry and source of valuable foreign currency.   But here in the Leaders Inn Hotel I have excellent wired connectivity - and again it is "free" - plus a comfortable desk and chair to work from.  But guess what - the light bulb in the bathroom is bust!   Still, I suppose soaping in the dark is a small price to pay for connectivity.