With T1s too Costly, Extended Stay Hotels Turns to Fixed-wireless Network

The Extended Stay Hotels chain is meeting guest demand for high-speed Internet access by deploying Airband Communications’ fixed-wireless data connections at many of its 685 properties. 

 

The hotel chain’s technology leaders realized that the increasing demand for Internet access from guests’ Wi-Fi enabled devices would eventually overwhelm existing bandwidth, so they began searching for a cost-effective, high-speed data solution.  Extended Stay Hotels chose Airband’s fixed-wireless network because expanding bandwidth by adding more T1s to each property would be too costly and take too long.

 

“We met with operations, and everyone agreed that high-speed Internet access is one of the top three amenities that guests require. As we looked at our T1 utilization, we knew we needed to do something quickly to support the needs of our guests,” says Ira Greenfield, VP of technology at Extended Stay Hotels. “We started in Texas with Airband and rolled out nationally from there. We couldn’t find another scalable data solution that could meet our cost and operational requirements. The fact that Airband can get their solution up and running much quicker than other providers was a big factor in our decision to go with them.”

 

Another value of Airband’s fixed-wireless network is that it easily serves properties that are outside the metro fiber ring. “Airband is an especially great solution for our hotels that are not near populated business areas with existing fiber or broadband networks,” says Greenfield. “Airband brings up their service quickly and affordably in situations where other providers’ costs would be prohibitive or their service is nonexistent.”

 

While Airband typically delivers either 9 MB or 15 MB to each Extended Stay Hotels property, the company can provide services up to GigE speeds.