TAMPA - Tampa International Airport is going to have "hot spots."
The first will be the new Airside C, scheduled to open in April as home to Southwest Airlines. Airline passengers will have free wireless Internet service available if their personal digital assistants and telephones are set up to use it.
The Hillsborough County Aviation Authority voted Thursday to make Airside C its model and to bring along Airsides A, E and F, as well as the Landside terminal building, in 2006.
Many of the nation's larger airports, including Orlando International Airport, already offer what is known as "Wi-Fi" service, though some charge $6 to $10 a day for access.
Louis Miller, authority executive director, said he didn't think the public would tolerate paying for the service.
"If you go back 10 years, you had to pay a dime to use a restroom," Miller said. "You'd get shot if you tried that today. In a few years, that's the way it will be with wireless Internet. That's our rationale for not charging."
It will cost nearly $153,000 to equip Airside C with Wi-Fi.
