It seemed to the founders of Zonga that nobody is really well catering the big customer segment of international business travellers who are driven by busy schedules, mobility, cost awareness, and search for the peace of mind. Thus they wanted to offer ‘All You Can Internet’ with straightforward grab-and-go experience, enjoying Internet anywhere and anytime, with no worries about excessive charges.
Zonga’s target is to expand to main international business travel airports within the year 2011. The company mentions it is currently negotiating with multiple international airports and business partners, and we can expect new expansions to be announced shortly. Zonga is also working closely with their initial hotel partner International Restel Hotels, to extend the offering to various hotels of the target cities as well. Zonga was founded in October 2009, and it is currently fully owned by the operative management.
Considering how frustrating and time consuming it often is to try to hunt an internet connection when traveling abroad on business, Zonga’s approach is definitely welcome, and I will happily grab a device once I will see one available at a foreign airport. Of course, a downside of Zonga’s technology is the use of mobile network, due to which the connection speed will vary a lot depending on the location. However, at least in urban areas 3G’s 1 megabit/sec is likely just fine for the majority of typical use cases. Zonga’s success will depend primarily on the effectiveness of the business execution, getting the distribution set up quickly and the marketing message through to travelers.