Keio Plaza Inter-Continental Tokyo Unveils Free High-Speed Internet Connections in Guest Rooms

The Keio Plaza Inter-Continental Tokyo will offer from April high-speed (10Mbps) Internet connections in its guest rooms as part of an expansion of information-technology services. The services will be free and available 24 hours a day.

Up until now, guests have had to foot the bill for Internet connections through phone lines. On April 1 that will change, as the Keio Plaza picks up the tab. This free, 24-hour Internet service is a first for Japan's hotels. The Keio Plaza has decided to launch this service to raise the level of customer satisfaction, increase the value of staying at the hotel, and to secure a superior level of service.
Tokyo's Shinjuku district, home to the Keio Plaza, is filled with computer-related companies, and more foreign businesspeople with jobs related to the information-technology (IT) sector have been coming here on business trips.

Today, laptop computers have become a necessity for these business travelers, and they often work from their hotel rooms. The Keio Plaza expects its 24-hour, high-speed, high-quality and free Internet service to be a big attraction to these travelers. They'll find that the Keio Plaza's guest rooms offer a comfortable, reliable base from which to do their work and access the Internet when in Tokyo.
The hotel's Internet service will make use of NEC Corp.'s latest technology, the VDSL (very high bit rate digital subscriber line) broadband access system. Other manufacturers use this system overseas, but in Japan, NEC was the first to develop it. The system is also used in office buildings and apartment complexes, allowing high-speed Internet access via telephone lines, and its use is likely to spread in the future.

VDSL and the currently talked about ADSL come from XDSL technology; VDSL offers the fastest connections. In the telecommunications industry, this is considered a cutting-edge technology. While other hotels offer similar systems developed by foreign makers, the reality is that guests bear the cost of Internet connections or service is limited to special rooms.

The Keio Plaza is working to expand its IT services on many levels. The new Internet system will allow guests speedier download times and easier handling of larger chunks of data and e-mail.

Technological advances are dramatically changing the working environment. In addition to improved content, access to the Internet is quickly improving and becoming more varied: Users can log on via ISDN , ADSL and cable connections these days, and next-generation cell phones are about to be unveiled. The Keio Plaza hotel plans to stay on top of these changes by using the latest infrastructure. The backbone of the hotel's telecommunications system, which has been streamlined to meet the needs of the technological revolution, will offer Internet access at 10Mbps, just about the maximum for this sort of technology. Fiber-optic cable connections from the hotel to the provider will also secure a maximum access speed of 3Mbps.

The Keio Plaza's sales strategy is to be a top-level hotel supported by the latest information technology, which will bring about high levels of customer satisfaction. To secure this top spot as an IT-friendly hotel, the Keio Plaza plans continuous investment, a stance that is supported by its parent, Keio Dentetsu, and the whole Keio Group. Current improvements and system infrastructure come from an investment of 300 million yen.