Radisson SAS introduces high speed wireless internet connectivity to its Middle East properties

The service, targeted at both business and leisure travellers, is part of a major drive by the company to provide wireless technology at all of its regional hotels by the end of 2004.

"Easy-to-use internet access with fast connection speeds is necessary to ensure that our hotels provide value-added services to our customers and consequently become their preferred choice for both business and leisure travel," said Fraidy Pinto, Regional IT Manager, Rezidor SAS Hospitality Middle East. "We are constantly looking at ways to improve our service and if the situation demands, we will increase the bandwidth."

The service has been rolled out at Radisson SAS Hotels in Bahrain, Kuwait, Riyadh, Beirut and Amman, with plans to extend it to Muscat, Jeddah, Sharjah and the company's Egyptian properties in Taba and Sharm El Sheikh.

Hotel guests will be able to use either a wired or wireless service from their hotel rooms. For those laptops without Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) capability, the wireless service can be provided through the provision of WiFi cards that can be slotted in easily. For those guests without laptops, business centre PCs with the same connectivity are available.

The service will be used in tandem with the company's concept of IT-Concierge, a group of trained hotel staff who can assist guests with any internet related problems that they may experience.

"Depending on the country the hotel is in, various technologies such as leased lines, ADSL lines and satellite connections, ranging in speeds from 512 Kbps to 1Mbps, have been used," said Pinto. "As part of this service, business travellers can use Virtual Private Network (VPN) connectivity to keep in touch with their corporate head offices, as VPN connectivity will be standard in all hotels offering high speed internet access."

"The vendors and products used to deliver the service were carefully selected based on a stringent set of standards outlined by Rezidor SAS that ensured that effective security, VPN and support concerns were fully addressed," added Mr. Pinto. "For example, our local partner in Saudi Arabia, SaudiCo, was chosen for its ability to provide effective, 24 by 7 local IT support."