Fairmont Hotels install high-speed Cisco network

LAS VEGAS -- Cisco Systems and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts announced today that Fairmont has agreed to outfit all properties with secure, reliable, high-speed Internet access provided on an end-to-end Cisco network infrastructure. Fairmont's marketing says that guests will enjoy the same business-class network access in their hotel rooms and public meeting areas, such as lobbies and conference centers, as they have at the office.

"We now have more bandwidth per guestroom across our entire portfolio than any other hotel company in North America," said Tim Aubrey, vice president of technology for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. "In fact, many of our heritage hotels now offer some of the most advanced technology available in the hospitality industry."

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has completed its deployment of the Cisco network infrastructure to all 37 of the company's luxury and first-class properties, located in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Bermuda and Barbados. The company will offer its guests both traditional dialup and broadband connectivity by providing wired and wireless Ethernet access. All guest rooms should be up and running with high-speed connectivity by early 2002; all meeting rooms and public areas have already been deployed. Guests choosing Ethernet access will enjoy downloading documents 100 times faster than with a dialup connection.

Mobile professionals

"Increasingly in today's business environment, mobile professionals require secure, reliable, broadband access to Internet services," Aubrey said. "In response to this demand it seemed fitting to deliver best of breed services through a Cisco network solution."

The two companies also announced today that Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is the newest member of the Cisco Mobile Office, an initiative that provides mobile business professionals with secure, high-speed network access from locations outside an immediate office, including public facilities like hotels, airports and coffee shops. 

"Cisco envisions a business world where the mobile professional is as efficient in their hotel room as they are in the corporate office," said Charlie Giancarlo, senior vice president and general manager, Technology Development, at Cisco Systems. "Working with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts through the Cisco Mobile Office program furthers our coordinated effort to realize that vision by extending the most secure high-speed network access available today to business travelers throughout North America."

Branded services

In 2002, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is scheduled to deliver Web-based branded services over its high-speed network, which will function as an interactive source for destination-based content. For example, guests will soon be able to book activities online and access information about local destinations and attractions from the convenience of their hotel rooms.

Fairmont Hotels will use basic Cisco technologies, including Cisco Catalyst 2900 and 3500 Series XL switches and Cisco 3600 Series routers for next-generation performance and functionality. In addition, the hotels will install the Cisco Aironet 350 Series of Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b) compliant wireless local area network (WLAN) products. The industry-leading Cisco Aironet 350 Series offers mobile business professionals easy, secure and reliable wireless access to their corporate networks so they can now be productive from anywhere and at anytime during their stay at the Fairmont.