Acadiana Business

Lafayette Regional to boost WiFi

LFT becomes the only U.S. airport to offer travelers one gig.

Lafayette Regional Airport and LUS Fiber have agreed to a mutual back-scratching deal that will give LUS Fiber greater marketing presence in the terminal at the airport while saving the airport money and allowing it to offer travelers one gigabyte of WiFi access. That’s enough bandwidth for business travelers to send large files to the home office and for casual travelers to access streaming services on their smartphones and other devices without interruption.

Paul Guilbeau, vice chairman of the Lafayette Airport Commission, tells ABiz commissioners voted to approve the deal on Feb. 11, although discussions about the arrangement had “been in the works for maybe eight to 10 months.”

According to Guilbeau, LUS Fiber approached the airport commission, which was already paying for LUS-F WiFi, about boosting the service to one gigabyte and getting it for free in exchange for allowing LUS Fiber to advertise on two digital boards within the terminal. The commission agreed, but the deal had to get the blessing of Clear Channel, which owns advertising rights within the airport. The media conglomerate readily agreed, says Guilbeau, who adds that LUS Fiber officials told commissioners that the boost in bandwidth makes Lafayette Regional the only airport in the United States to offer travelers one gig of WiFi.

“It’s tremendous,” Guilbeau adds. “When LUS Fiber people talk about one gig their eyes light up. I don’t think the competitors would be able to give us that.”