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Hits 23,000 Rooms in 203 Hotels . .�We were all wireless before wireless was cool� |
Atlanta, GA � Dec. 11,
2003 � StayOnline, the hospitality industry�s leading high speed wireless
Internet access provider, will hit 203 hotels, encompassing over 23,000
rooms, under contract for installation by the end of 2003. Last year
at this time, the company, which provides 100% wireless solutions, had
installed just over one hundred hotels.
�It�s coincidental that we are reaching 203 in 2003,� said Antonio DiMilia, President and CEO of StayOnline. �We are very pleased with our rate of growth this year and have seen an upturn in the hotel marketplace in the last six months which has definitely been beneficial. We have completed installations on more than 70 hotels just since the beginning of July.� Since its founding as E-Centre.net in 1999, StayOnline has focused all its efforts on providing a 100% wireless solution to the hospitality industry, giving it seniority in a rapidly changing arena. �I feel like Ted Turner sometimes, who used to say he was cable before cable was cool. We were �all wireless� before wireless was cool -- and now look -- it�s the industry standard and everybody has got to have it,� said DiMilia. StayOnline now provides its 100% wireless HSIA solution in more than 30 brands and this year added properties in the CNL, Pineapple, Magna Hospitality, and Colwen portfolios. Pineapple alone gave the company a big chunk of business in the fourth quarter, installing StayOnline�s solution at fourteen of its properties primarily in the southeast and southwest. �Many of our guests fall into the extended stay category,� said Glenn Pedersen, President of Pineapple Management. �They expect, and even demand, all the comforts of home and office, which today means wireless, speedy access to the Internet. StayOnline was the only provider we felt had the depth of experience and the flexibility to give our guests what they need -- mainly wireless access in the guest room and the common areas of the hotel.� DiMilia believes that the company�s much-heralded marketing agreements with AT&T Wireless, Boingo and iPass have helped it gain new customers, along with its early verification as an Intel® Centrino� verified solution. �The industry leaders are putting major marketing dollars behind their wireless technology, and our affiliation with them has been a strong selling point with the hotels,� said DiMilia. �These brands are well-known to the primary hotel guest that our customers are targeting � the business traveler.� StayOnline utilizes the 802.11b platform, which is the dominant technology in most new laptops sold today. For those hotel guests who are using an older model laptop, StayOnline�s EZAir Plug �n Play device offers a simple solution to going wireless. According to various sources, recent moves by StayOnline competitors to add wireless access in properties initially installed with wired configurations is an indication of both the need for the service, as well as the price flexibility it offers. �We found that the StayOnline solution has always been price competitive, flexible and most important -- secure,� said Steven Nicholas, CHA, Vice President & Chief Quality Officer, of Noble Investment Group. �If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they should be flattered.� About StayOnline, Inc.
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StayOnline
Sharon Kraun
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