Denver airport wi-fi is free — and popular, breaking a record over the weekend

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Security lines at DIA. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)  dia; denver international airport; airport; tsa; security; lines; denver; denverite; colorado; kevinjbeaty

Security lines at DIA. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Last weekend, Denver International Airport broke a record and it wasn’t for weather-related delays — 11,000 people using the free wireless internet at the same time.

Not only that, those 11,000 people were seeing download speeds of 100 megabits per second, said Robert Kastelitz, DIA’s senior vice president and CIO for technologies.

It’s an amenity that cost the airport $2.5 million, but has proven to be very popular.

Kastelitz says that while DIA’s wi-fi used to be middle of the pack, the airport saw an opportunity to keep customers happy by upgrading its internet speed and accessibility. The decision to upgrade was “fairly obvious.”

“Our passengers expect wi-fi, they expect good wi-fi, they expect it to be easy to access and they expect it to be fast,” he said.

Since the 2015-2016 upgrade, airport survey questionnaires that measure passenger satisfaction have risen “quarter over quarter.”

And in the event of delays, airport spokesperson Heath Montgomery says that wireless can become more than an amenity to pass the time.

“It also provides another avenue for people to connect with their airlines,” he said. “You might be able to reach somebody on chat or by email or any of the other methods that the airlines offer.”

So if you’re travelling through DIA in the coming days, go ahead and binge-watch Netflix. It might be easier than you think.

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