Wayport

has surpassed the 2.5 million mark for customer connections and has undertaken an extensive advertising campaign to heavily promote its high-speed Internet service to business travelers and hoteliers.

     
In addition to reaching the 2.5 million mark, Wayport`s wired and Wi-Fi customer connections will total approximately 600,000 for 2Q 2003 (more than double from the same quarter last year), and quarter-to-quarter connections are growing by more than 29 percent. Wayport usage rates are as high as 20 percent of the occupied rooms in a number of its supported hotels.

      “Wayport continues to be the industry leader in supporting the largest number of locations with the highest level of quality, service and meetings support. We believe the market for high-speed Internet access has just reached the tipping point,” said Dave Vucina, CEO of Wayport. “Through our extensive efforts in advertising and co-marketing, Wayport will drive even more business travelers to our partner hotels and airports, giving them a competitive advantage in the marketplace.”

Wayport`s advertising and promotional campaign includes full-page ads in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Wired magazine; full-page ads in hospitality trade magazines including Hotels, Lodging Hospitality, Hotel & Motel Management, Hotel Business and Hospitality Upgrade; direct mail to tens of thousands of business executives and IT managers; and various co-marketing promotions with companies including Intel, Microsoft, Dell, IBM, Sony, Sharp and Palm.

“Wayport has emerged as a clear success in the Wi-Fi market,” said Amy Cravens, industry analyst for Instat-MDR. “Wayport`s success can largely be attributed to a model that delivers a win-win situation for Wayport and its partner locations - locations that meet the needs of business travelers, the early adopters of Wi-Fi.”

One example of Wayport`s efforts to drive traffic to its hotel and airport partners is the current promotion running through July in which every Dell customer who purchases a Dell notebook computer featuring Intel(r) Centrino(tm) mobile technology receives a Wayport prepaid card. In most cases, the trial results in customer loyalty whereby business travelers return to Wayport partner locations time and again because of a seamless experience and the need for high-speed Internet access on the road.

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