Midtier Hotels In The Mix

olution providers looking to offer wireless broadband services to midtier hotels are finding that a bit of foresight and a growing number of partnerships are bolstering their opportunities.

For the past year, DataBit, a Mahwah, N.J., solution provider, has been working with wireless hot-spot management software and hosting solutions from Single Digits, Manchester, N.H. Building the partnership with Single Digits and crafting offerings for midtier hotels such as Days Inn and Super 8 is beginning to pay off, said George Reichenberg, manager of business development at DataBit.

Large hotels such as the Sheratons and the Hyatts recognize that wireless broadband is an amenity like a television, Reichenberg said. “If the hotel doesn’t offer it, a lot of people are going to go elsewhere,” he said. “Now the middle-tier hotels, who we are marketing to, have to do that to compete, so the market is opening up.”

And the numbers back him up. In-Stat/MDR reported that deployments and revenue are expected to climb substantially in the hotel broadband market this year. The firm said while the concept of hotel broadband had a rocky beginning, the market has since stabilized, and hotels, guests and providers are embracing the idea.

In-Stat predicts the number of total properties deployed will grow to 26,828 by 2008 from 5,207 in 2003. The most significant technology trend in this market is the use of WLAN, which is now expanding from just public areas and business meeting rooms into guest rooms, In-Stat said.

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Another service provider, STSN, based in Salt Lake City, has set up hotels such as La Quinta Inn & Suites with wireless networking installations and servers. STSN integrates Waltham, Mass.-based Colubris Networks’ WLAN infrastructure equipment with its own back-end systems and services to enable wireless access that hotel operators can deliver to guests for about $9.95 per day.