Where the Deer and the Antelope Roam

On my way down to South America, I change flights in Toronto. In the terminal I take out my iphone to catch up on the news. Roaming fees? Well, what do you know—there’s free airport wi-fi. Ten days later on my way back, I have a long layover in the Miami airport. I take out my iphone to catch up on the news, ready to tap into the free airport wi-fi. Instead I find an invitation to pay a local provider to have access to their network. “Never!” I cry (not out loud thankfully, though I do think a little “arrgh” might have escaped my lips), “for I am an ex-American Canadian who expects free airport wi-fi!” My smug indignation takes hold, as America proves once again it is about nothing more than the almighty dollar. I’ll show America, I think.

So I call my service provider in Canada, Rogers, to buy a roaming package. I explain my situation to the customer service rep who tells me I must be wrong and that the Miami airport must have free wi-fi. Maybe I need to walk, he suggests, to a different place in the terminal to be able to pick up the free connection. I walk and talk convincing him that, no, the Miami airport does not offer free wi-fi. He’s dumbfounded. He offers me a roaming package that’s a bit more expensive than the hook up to the airport wi-fi provider. I purchase it to support my Canadian company and to show America that free airport wi-fi is a right and I will not collude in an American system that tries to extract money from helpless Canadian travelers!

Feeling self-righteous, I catch up on some Canadian news on my iphone and then decide to do some strolling around the terminal. I see several ads for cellphone providers. I recall that when my American friend comes up to Canada he never worries about his roaming fees the way I do when I go down to the States. American cellphone carriers have tolerable roaming fees. Canadian companies don’t. How do you know which foreign tourist is the Canadian, the joke asks. He’s the one not using his cellphone. But here I was, having just bought a Canadian roaming package and colluding in a Canadian system that tries to extract money from helpless Canadian travelers!

In fact, lets admit it: Americans pay a whole lot less for their cellphone usage than Canadians. Why? Because the cellphone space in the States is a competitive market. In Canada it’s sort of, well, okay, maybe it’s a bit competitive, kind of. No it isn’t. You need one hand to count the cellphone players in Canada. But hey, we do have that free airport wi-fi.

And that’s the point, isn’t it? Canada has this abiding belief in the role of a public space with equal access for all. Free airport wi-fi fits with that belief. The Rogers customer service rep cannot believe there’s no free airport wi-fi even as he collects his paycheck from a company that charges ridiculous fees for its cellphone service. America’s belief in a public space has been dwindling and under attack for years. It doesn’t matter if you’re home, home on the range, there’s no free wi-fi where the deer and the antelope roam, but its user fees are significantly less. On this difference, I’ll side with the deer and the antelope.