Cybercafe's not worried about hotspots

After the effort, this piece wasn't used, maybe because the inteviewee didn't want to be identified- his boss was on honeymoon somewhere and didn't want to be bothered. At the last minute I couldn't find anyone else, so for the sake of filing in a story, I actually asked a favour to use this incognito person's opinion. Bummer...

Cybercafes unaffected by Wi-Fi hotspot expansion
By Hazimin Sulaiman

CYBERCAFES or Internet gaming centres or computer centres, or whatever one would want to call them are unaffected by the Wi-Fi hotspot expansion seen in the food and beverage industry. Mamak eateries, restaurants and coffee shops might offer broadband Internet access to their customers but it caters to a different target audience all together.

That is what a cybercafe manager based in Subang Jaya, who wants to be known only as Ken, believes. When asked whether Wi-Fi hotspots effects his buisness in any way Ken says that "no we are not really affected.

The people that go to Wi-Fi hotspot and cybercafes are two different types of people. The most that most people do at Starbucks is probably chat and do some non-intensive Internet related stuff. Compare that to hardcore gamers who need a lot of bandwidth."

According to Ken the people that come to his cybercafe are mostly from the college age group to the those in their thirties. "There are some forty year olds as well," Ken notes. One can imagine with all the young hardcore gamers at in the cybercafe that it can get quite nosiy. Most of the customers that go to Wi-Fi hotspots probably prefer a quieter atmostphere to work and chat on the Internet.

In Ken's cybercafe, there are different sections for gamers and those wanting to use Internet services. Ken's cybercafe provides headsets for customers who just want to use the Internet, to shield them from the noises from the gaming side.According to Ken, most established cybercafes in Subang have a minimum of 120 to 140 PCs, while the largest has more than 400 PCs. On weekdays he notes 60 to 80 per cent of the PCs are used at the peak hours of 6pm to 12 am.

While on weekends, capacity is filled 100 per cent! With that Ken's confident that the mushrooming of Wi-Fi hotspots does not effect them in any way. "Besides catering to a different market, cybercafes provide cheap group entertainment for RM2 per hour. Try to compare that with the cost of a coffee at Starbucks," Ken says.

The cost factor is a good point as the gamers tend to be younger customers with less cash to splurge just for Internet access. Specialty coffee shops also do not provide adequate bandwidth for hardcore games and do not have the right environment for team games such as Counter-Strike. It would simply be too loud for the other patrons.

In the future Ken says cybercafes might be effected if broadband connections become faster to the home. As more people will simply plan games at home. He does not see that happening for at least 1 or 2 more years. At the moment cybercafes have at least 2 or 4 broadband Internet connections. "It depends on the demand for speed by the customers. Normally the connections are divided for browsing and gaming. A big cybercafe can have close to 20 Streamyx connections divided for gaming and browsing," Ken observes.