HARTSFIELD CITY LIMITS New kiosk puts travelers online without modem jack

A new computer information service company is trying to change old habits at Hartsfield.

Online business travelers are used to coming off a plane, finding a center where they can put a jack into the wall and log on to get e-mail and stock quotes. Blueshift Geodesics Inc., operating out of Atlanta for just eight months, is installing kiosks equipped with CyberOasis, a computer system that requires only a credit card rather than a modem jack.

Experienced travelers have seen them around the country for about a year at other airports. The first working model of Blueshift's kiosk is now on Concourse T.

"Users will actually be able to come up and use their credit card and be online," Blueshift Chief Executive Officer Hitesh Shah said.

In addition to e-mail and Internet services, CyberOasis will provide printing and faxing services. The charges are competitive, Shah said: 33 cents per minute for online, $1 per page to send or receive a fax and 50 cents a page from the printer.

Blueshift hopes to have kiosks on concourses C and D within a month. The company is negotiating with Delta Air Lines to get installations on A and B.

At Hartsfield, the company is acquiring space by subletting it from existing concessionaires. At other airports in Southern California, the company is bidding for space with airport authorities.

The company hopes to add installations in such cities as Memphis and Columbus, Ohio, Shah said.