"If I'm a business traveler and I have my corporate data, my personal data, my personal financial data in some degrees on that laptop, there should be an implication of safety. The hotel industry spends a great deal of money on property security, with cameras and door locks, and they spend a great amount of money making sure their back-end systems are safe. They're beginning to realize they have a security liability issue that they need to be aware of which suddenly the low-cost providers are not able to respond to, that STSN has always been positioned to respond to."

How? Well, several ways. One is a feature that eliminates the opportunities for hackers looking for prey on wireless connections.

The company — with about 200 employees worldwide, including 102 in Salt Lake City — has come on strong of late. It struggled in its first few years as it tried to find a business model "that makes sense," Jones said, but its model matured late in 2002 and throughout 2003. Last year, STSN doubled its revenues (to $60 million), doubled the number of properties under contract and became profitable. Revenue is expected to be about $100 million this year.

But STSN constantly wrestles with several challenges. One is trying to find the skilled labor it needs and wants. "We have incredibly high expectations of the people we bring on board," Jones said. "We don't hire based on the needs of today but two or three years from now, and we need people who can grow into that."

Another difficulty is "focusing and having the discipline to focus on our capabilities while being aware of the possibilities. There are so many opportunities we have, but having the discipline to stay grounded is a challenge," he said. "We're very fortunate and very spoiled, and we have a very high opinion of our abilities. At the same time, we have to recognize that we can only take so much in the buffet line."

Those who do latch on at STSN will find a culture striving to achieve balance, with hard work and levity both having their place.

"We recognize this should not be the center of any of our lives," Jones said. "You have to have that balance. I try to make sure everybody recognizes that, number one, this is not an altruistic effort, that we are here to generate a return to our investors. At the same time, we're not here solving the cure for cancer."

STSN figures to branch out to "complementing" industries such as providing connectivity to timeshare properties, Jones said. It also is evaluating how much to spread beyond the United States and Great Britain. And it likely will be offering more services, not simply adding rooms to its list.

Jones equates the additional connectivity services with premium television services. Hotels once charged for HBO but now offer it free as they've added other premium services for guests. For STSN, for example, a customer may be willing to pay a bit more to get additional bandwidth.

"There is a limited number of hotels where this makes sense," Jones said of high-speed connectivity, "but with the services and what we deliver, I think there are great opportunities."

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E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com