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By Andy McCue, 15 October 2003 12:05

NEWS Marriott Hotels has installed one of the most advanced Wi-Fi networks in the UK at its hotel in Swindon. From this week wireless high-speed internet access is available in every hotel room, guest areas, conference rooms, the bar, restaurant, and even the swimming pool at the hotel. Guests either buy access time through purchasing a card at the hotel or they can pay for time online through their own individual service provider at the login screen when they connect if they have their own wireless card. Mark Kemp, business marketing manager for Marriott Hotels UK, told silicon.com that the Wi-Fi deployment is a key service differentiator for the hotel in attracting travelling business people. "We would see it not as a major revenue generator. It supports other strategies such as customer loyalty and repeat business. Our business customers come to us for a reason," he said. The cost of the network, supplied by STSN, was not "significant" and would be covered by the profits from one conference, said Kemp. Marriott Hotels said it will look at deploying further Wi-Fi networks at hotels where there is a local market – such as a concentration of hi-tech companies nearby – or a business traveller need. Kemp said he expected demand for such services to increase as Intel Centrino laptops become more widely used. David Garrison, CEO of STSN, said in a statement: "The Wi-Fi market is beginning to mature, but already the utility of it as a communications medium is apparent." A new report, Wi-Fi outlook 2004, by analyst Ovum, says that while 2003 has been the year that has seen Wi-Fi move from a niche technology to the mainstream, the business case for such deployments will become much clearer next year. Richard Dineen, research director at Ovum, said: "In 2004, as more devices are enabled and services mature, we will gain better understanding of Wi-Fi's credentials to provide wireless internet and corporate remote access to a larger, broader market." He predicted that 2004 will also see a move away from standards in-fighting to the arrival of two key technology developments to the basic 802.11 standards – 802.11i, which will address security issues, and the 802.11e MAC enhancement, which will support multimedia streams, interactive games and voice over IP services.