SWOMI operational in Hotels 12/1/2000
SARASOTA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 30, 2000--BIFS Technologies
Corporation (NQB:BIFT) announced today that its SWOMI(TM) high-speed
wireless network goes online and operational in the resort community
of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, effective December 1, 2000.
The company announced that the installation of the system has been
completed and is available to customers at the Caravelle Hotel, the
Caravelle Towers, the St. Johns Hotel, the St. Clements Hotel, the Sea
Island Resort, and the Tropical Shores beginning tomorrow. The initial
rollout of the SWOMI(TM) network backbone in the Myrtle Beach test
market currently covers a sixteen-mile stretch of the Grand Strand,
with contracts already in place to expand the coverage of the network
to twenty-five miles of the east coast vacation community.
The SWOMI(TM) wireless Internet system was developed by the Beach
Access division of BIFS Technologies Corporation to provide T1
Internet connectivity utilizing a proprietary seek and switch feature
that allows users to access the Internet from within their hotel
rooms, throughout the common areas of the resorts, and facilitates a
seamless roaming capability as customers move about the grounds of the
resorts. The system was designed to provide built-in signal management
and automatically switches from one cell to another as the system
detects variances in the signal strength or as the user moves in and
out of coverage zones. This unique feature of SWOMI(TM) allows
visitors to the resort area to travel in between hotels included on
the network, while remaining connected to the Internet or to leave the
network and automatically reconnect upon their return. The high-speed
throughput of SWOMI(TM) makes it possible for users to not only browse
the Web, but to execute more advanced applications including, rapid
file transfers and Internet telephony. The engineering scheme of the
SWOMI(TM) network makes it possible for users on the system to achieve
optimal throughput levels at T1 speeds, as the system balances the
demands for multiple user connectivity and simultaneous access.
Al Keyser, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BIFS Technology
Corporation commented on the developments by stating: "With the
SWOMI(TM) network now operational in the Myrtle Beach resort area, the
company expects to realize a steadily expanding revenue stream as the
system is used by guests of these hotels and the network becomes more
widely adopted. Our business plan for SWOMI(TM) involves a
multifaceted national strategy that concentrates initially on selected
market deployment to high-density resort regions, with a follow-on
deployment plan that will target more diverse areas of the country.
While we continue to expand the reach of the SWOMI(TM) network to
hotels and condominiums in the Myrtle Beach area, we are also moving
forward with our marketing plan to other areas of the country. The
company's next major marketing efforts are targeted at the hotel and
resort communities of the Gulf Coast of Florida, along with a
marketing campaign, which is currently underway, to hotels and resorts
in Hawaii." |
