I agree with other's.... time to chill pete!
But maybe I can shed some light on the matter.....
As with many hotels in the USA, wireless networks are available at great expense at some hotels. And while it does surprise me the Sea Temple does not offer it, i offer possible explanations.
1) The sea temple is a complex of privately owned apartments and villas that are managed by a property development/management company. So it is not your traditional hotel in regards to services offered.
I will also suggest it is 100% holiday/resort destination, therefore high end business services are not a priority.
The hotel is also located on the ocean more than 5kms outside of a town of approx 10,000 people - so he certainly will not be picking up 'free' networks to surf on.
apartment sales seatempleportdouglas.com.au
hotel website mirvachotels.com/sea-temple-resort-port-douglas
(for what it is worth... i notice nowhere on the website does it mention wifi offered at the property)
2) And the bigger point to all this, as much as australia complains about services, in the past 5 years the largest telco here has rolled out a world class wireless 3G network (mobile phone & internet), that and i quote from propaganda:
"It covers 2 million square kilometres and 99% of Australias population*, making it more than twice as large as any of our competitors 3G networks."
More marketing.....
"BigPond® Wireless Broadband runs on the Telstra Next G network, Australias fastest national wireless broadband network in selected CBD, metro and regional areas with our fastest USB card. With these increased speeds in upgraded areas, typical download speeds are 550kbps to 8Mbps1. Our fastest device is up to two times faster than the next fastest 3G device in selected areas. So, when you are in an upgraded area, you could do everything faster, like download a 5MB email attachment in as little as 8 seconds1. "
telstra.com.au/nextg/index.html
In additional to above, there are 2 or 3 other national telcos offering national wifi networks, as well, but i will admit these probably cover the cities only.
The point i am making is..... aussies dont need to use someone else's private wifi network, when we can use the same one on vacation as we have in our home for no extra charge.
Historically, Australia has leap frogged from dialup/adsl internet to this national wireless network in one jump. We did not have to rely on private wifi networks.
And as for the future, our current government made a promise at the last election to roll out an even more improved 21st century network, because the disaparities in service between rural and urban areas, as well as develop the digital economy.
dbcde.gov.au/communications/national_broadband_network
For a country of 22 million people with a land mass of 7 million square kms (ie fits inside continental usa), we are doing not bad i say.
as for pete, i know of 1 internet cafe in macrossan street port douglas he can get wifi, but there are others in town.
Or for what it is worth i suggest going down to the folks listed below, to discuss purchasing a "telstra next G prepaid package" he can use everywhere he travels. (even uluru!)
Leading Edge Telecoms - Port Douglas
Shop 30 Marina Mirage
PORT DOUGLAS QLD 4877
Phone : 07 4099 5848
ps my apologies in advance, not enough posts to post hyper links in msg! shock... you will have to cut and paste!
cheers
ozmouse
melbourne
