The havoc wrought by Hurricane Sandy was nothing that could have been prepared for by the telecom industries. Cell towers were knocked out which made reaching family and friends via phone calls, texts or internet more than difficult. Lack of electricity made DSL and Cable modems inoperable. But for those places that did have electricity WiFi became a lifeline and was finally recognized as the commodity that it has become.

To Help out AT&T as well as Comcast opened up their WiFi that is normally free for subscribers so that all those effected by Sandy could get zero cost and immediate WiFi access. Restaurants, coffee shops and other businesses that were open and already had WiFi were jam packed with people communicating with family and friends. They also used the WiFi to gather information that was sorely lacking on recovery efforts and restoration of services.

During any emergency one of the things that you desperately need is information. But is it just during an emergency that we have this need, or has the need for information that you want at any time become the norm? I would submit the argument that as a society we have become information junkies. I am not saying that this is a bad thing, I am making no judgment calls. I am simply making an observation. We thrive on information and media and we want it on demand, available at anytime. Smart businesses capitalize on this fact by offering WiFi to their guests.

There is no room for doubt that businesses that feed our need for WiFi do so with a big boost to their profits. For any restaurant WiFi has become less of a novelty and has become one more thing that brings customers coming back. Offering WiFi is leverage for many businesses who are just keeping up with Starbucks, McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts and national property management groups. They are simply giving their client base exactly what they not only want, but what they need. WiFi has truly become a commodity.