Commentary: Worries Over Logan Wi-Fi BanCommentary: Worries Over Logan Wi-Fi Ban

What if your land-lord told you to turn off the Wi-Fi? That's what's worrying folks at Partners Healthcare System, which operates Brigham and Women's and Massachusetts General hospitals and other health-care facilities.

At issue is Boston's Logan International Airport's ban preventing airlines from offering free Wi-Fi service in waiting areas because airport managers maintain it could interfere with airport security and other systems. If the Federal Communications Commission upholds the ban, it could set a "chilling national precedent" for other landlords looking to control tenants' wireless access, argues Rickey Hampton, Partners' wireless-communications manager.

The FCC is reviewing the dispute between the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, and Continental Airlines Inc., but it hasn't indicated when or if it will rule in the matter. Hampton recently sent a seven-page document to the FCC outlining his concerns. The FCC has received thousands of comments from groups and individuals, with most opposing the ban.

Partners leases "significant amounts" of commercial space in Boston for clinics and doctors' offices, many that use or plan to implement wireless systems with E-prescription applications on PDAs and digital patient records on tablet PCs, Hampton says. If the FCC upholds the Logan ban, Hampton worries other landlords could charge tenants for using wireless devices or restrict their use.

"There are potential control, cost, and security risks" if the FCC rules in MassPort's favor, Hampton says. Such a ruling would not only hinder the already-slow adoption of information technology by doctors and other health-care workers, he says, but it also could slow implementation and control of Wi-Fi technologies in other markets.