Thailand's Largest Residential Wi-fi Installation

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Press Release:

Thai-Fi Awarded Thailand's Largest Residential Wi-Fi Installation

Bangkok: The Wi-Fi Technology Forum/- Thai-Fi, a Bangkok-based high tech start up focusing on the sale and installation of Wi-Fi technology, announced the signing of a contract with global development company The Ascott Group for the installation and deployment of Wi-Fi technology in Ascott's new luxury residential high rise in Bangkok.

The contract calls for one of the largest and the most advanced Wi-Fi residential deployments in Thailand.

Thai-Fi will provide a complete Wi-Fi installation covering all of the private and public areas of the Ascott Sathorn, a 35-story, 310-unit luxury building slated to open in April 2004. The installation will be based on the most recent 802.11g technology, which is capable of transmitting data at speeds of up to 54 Mbps or nearly 100 times the speed of standard dial up connections.

The installation plan calls for complete coverage of all 310 residences as well as coverage in all public areas including the lobby, restaurant, pool, health club and other retail areas. Melvin Lim, General Manager of the Ascott Sathorn, explained, "We are planning on operating the premier serviced residences in Thailand, and as such we intend to offer our residents the most advanced technology available. We have found that more and more of our customers are inquiring about high speed wireless connections, and Thai-Fi's solution fit perfectly with our needs."

Thai-Fi's solution for the building includes an initial survey and network design based on the buildings specific lay out and aesthetic demands, and then covers installation, configuration, monitoring and on going maintenance and customer support.

Thai-Fi, launched by two American ex-pats, offers Wi-Fi solutions for venues of all sizes from large high-end buildings like the Ascott, to office buildings, hotels, cafes and restaurants and even offers an individual residential solution. According to Thai-Fi co-founder Carl Rubin, "The Ascott's installation raises the bar for premium residential buildings and hotels in Bangkok, providing unrivaled convenience and connectivity, whilst giving the property a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace. Wi-Fi has grown up-it's not just a hotel lobby novelty anymore."

Thai-Fi's wireless network solution at The Ascott Sathorn will be powered by Cisco routing and switching equipment and makes use of some 130 Linksys 802.11g Access Points. Guests in the serviced residences and residents in the Sky Villa apartment units will be able to access the internet not only anywhere in their unit, whether it is the bedroom, balcony or kitchen, but will also be able to browse their favorite sites or download their messages while eating in the restaurant or lounging by the pool.

Guests will either use their already enabled Wi-Fi laptops, or can arrange to get a wireless PC card from the front desk. Thai-Fi provides multi-lingual customer support to assist guests with any configuration issues. The building decided to supply a 1 Mbps leased line access to the Internet provided by Internet Thailand, a leading Internet service provider. "The key for us," commented Lim, "Is that Thai-Fi offered a turnkey solution and great after-installation service and support, which will provide savings to us in ongoing IT costs."

About Thai-Fi:

Thai-Fi (www.thai-fi.com) is the registered trademark of JCMR Co. Ltd., a Thai company founded by US and Thai citizens which provides wireless network design, installation, security, maintenance and support to large apartment and condominium buildings, hotels, office buildings, caf้s, restaurants, individual residences and businesses using 802.11 technology. For more information please contact 02-254-6080

About The Ascott Group:

The Ascott Group is a leading international serviced residence company with serviced residence units spanning the key cities of Europe, Southeast Asia, North Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Ascott's global presence comprises 13,800 serviced residence units across 39 cities in 16 countries. These cities include London, Paris, Brussels, Berlin and Barcelona in Europe; Singapore, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing in Asia; Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland in Australia and New Zealand and Dubai in the Gulf region.

Headquartered in Singapore, The Ascott Group pioneered the Asia Pacific's first branded luxury serviced residence in 1984. Today it boasts a 20-year industry track record and serviced residence brands that enjoy strong recognition worldwide.

The Group's flagship The Ascott luxury serviced residence brand projects an elegant lifestyle appealing to top executives. Its Somerset upper-tier brand offers stylish, contemporary living for senior to upper management executives. The mid-tier Oakford brand in Australia and Citadines brand in Europe provide corporate executives with comfortable city residences.

--Press Release 2004-02-26