Fast-food chain KFC has started to serve up wireless broadband internet access at its Hong Kong restaurants, offering customers a low-cost alternative to commercial Wi-Fi hotspot services.
KFC Hong Kong has partnered with local Wi-Fi provider Triamis Wireless to offer secure hotspot services at its 46 outlets across the city by early next year. Financial details were not available. More than a quarter of those restaurants will be wireless internet-ready by the end of the month.
That made the local KFC chain, run by franchise-holder Birdland (Hong Kong), the first big fast-food restaurant player in the territory to offer commercial Wi-Fi services, said KFC (Hong Kong) director of information systems Nelson Ho.
He pointed out that coffee chains such as Starbucks and Pacific Coffee, where Wi-Fi has been available in a number of outlets, were not considered fast-food or 'quick-service' restaurants. McDonald's, which has about 215 outlets in Hong Kong, had revealed plans earlier to offer local Wi-Fi services to keep abreast of hotspot deployments at select McDonald's operations in the United States, the mainland and Singapore. Its Wi-Fi initiative in Hong Kong is pending.
'We see Wi-Fi getting more and more popular in Hong Kong. We believe Wi-Fi services in our restaurants will help us provide customers with a better dining experience,' Mr Ho said.
'This should also encourage customers to come more often during the day, including tea time and supper time.'
The low cost of services is expected to make a difference for KFC customers who want to order Wi-Fi access along with their fried chicken. Under the Triamis Wireless plan, users get unlimited and secure wireless broadband internet access at KFC and its other hotspots around Hong Kong for $88 a month. By comparison, surfing the Web on PCCW's wireless broadband service costs Netvigator customers $3, and non-Netvigator customers $6, for every 10 minutes of usage.