NATIONAL REPORT— Considering how crowded the field of providing WiFi to hotels has become, vendors such as Guest-Tek, T-Mobile Hot Spot, and Wayport, Inc., are working overtime to offer new services and better quality as a way of distinguishing themselves from the competition. Hotel owners stand to benefit from all the competition both in terms of more consistent and secure service for their guests and ultimately greater customer loyalty and repeat bookings for themselves. Calgary, Canada-based Guest-Tek views WiFi and high-speed Internet access overall as a critical leg in a three-legged stool, the other two legs being voice and video. Guest-Tek’s goal, according to president/CEO Arnon Levy, is to deliver a solution that fully integrates all three services. If successful in offering a product that covers the three bases effectively, Guest-Tek argues it will have achieved a valuable competitive edge. Levy calls it a “triple play.” In March, the Peninsula Chicago agreed to install the full suite of Guest-Tek’s products with other Peninsula Hotels following shortly. T-Mobile Hot Spot, meanwhile, has focused on increasing the number of locations— both hotels and other, well-known branded public sites— where people can log on to its WiFi network. Hyatt Hotels & Resorts got the ball rolling in the hotel category when it partnered with the Bellevue, WA-based vendor two years ago to provide WiFi in both guestrooms and public spaces. Accor’s midprice Red Roof Inn signed on a few months later. T-Mobile saw security as an aspect of WiFi where it could stand out from the competition. Consequently, it implemented the 802.1x security standard, the first national provider to do so. The 802.1x standard encrypts the broadband signal between a laptop and PDA and the network’s wireless access point. Non-hotel locations where travelers can access T-Mobile include Starbucks, Borders, FedEx Kinko’s, and a number of airline membership clubs. For its part, Austin-based Wayport has stressed international growth, signing up hotels in global markets, particularly Europe. Spurred in part by demand for WiFi by U.S. travelers, Wayport acquired a local provider in 2005 and established a European headquarters in Copenhagen. “We’re constantly adding new locations to our network,” said CEO Dave Vucina.
