STSN and Sprint PCS enter pact

STSN, fresh off a hot 2003, is moving to make 2004 even stronger.

The Salt Lake-based supplier of broadband and wireless connectivity products for hotels and conference sites announces today a bilateral roaming agreement with the Sprint PCS network and the unveiling of the iBahn passport service.

IBahn is STSN's premier product for secure and reliable broadband services to the corporate business traveler.

The agreement with Sprint PCS means that STSN customers will be able to use their STSN iBahn passport card on the Sprint network, and Sprint PCS subscribers will be able to use their Sprint service in STSN venues.

Under the new agreement, iBahn passport users will be able to use their iBahn card and number in any Sprint PCS or Concourse Communications network and have it billed and serviced the same as it would be in any STSN location. Sprint PCS users will be able to log into their system at any room or conference center serviced by STSN and have their activities billed and serviced "just as if they were in the Sprint world," according to STSN vice president of sales Michael Jones.

Concourse provides wireless "hot spots" at airports.

"It allows us to service customers just as they're used to being serviced but also expand service to the network," Jones said.

The iBahn passport — "don't think of it as a prepaid connection card but a service card," Jones said — will allow users to to log on to the STSN network from any of its locations and automatically be put on the company's premium support service.

"Today, if you look at the Fortune 1000, there is a significant percent of that group who will not allow their corporate travelers to use high-speed Internet and definitely will not allow them to use wireless because of a lack of trust of those remote environments," Jones said. "This (passport) makes it so they're more comfortable to allow them to use those services."

The moves are designed to continue the company's growth. At the end of 2003, STSN's broadband services were available at more than 900 hotel properties, and installations were up 327 percent over 2002, with much of the growth occurring in Europe.

The number of STSN "Wi-Fi" wireless-enabled hotels exceeded 550 properties, including 50 "all-wireless."

The year 2003 also featured STSN topping more than 7 million guest connections for business travelers worldwide on its network. During the fourth quarter alone, the company averaged more than 400,000 connections per month.