Hyatt And T-Mobile Strike Deal On Wi-Fi Web Access

T-Mobile will install high-speed wireless Internet service in most of Hyatt Corp's 200-plus hotels and resorts in the United States by 2005, the companies said Thursday.

The first deployment will be available this week in a Hyatt in Charlotte, N.C., the companies said in a statement. The Wi-Fi service will be available in lobbies and other public areas and in some guest rooms, the companies said. The Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Chicago will follow next week, while hotels in Columbus, Ohio, and Chesapeake Bay, Md., as well as the Grand Hyatt New York are set to receive the T-Mobile HotSpot service in coming weeks.

"This furthers Hyatt's position as a premium, global brand and industry leader," said Tom O'Toole, Hyatt's senior VP of strategy and systems, said in a statement.

W-Fi technology lets computer users within a few hundred feet share a high-speed Internet connection. Since being introduced in the late 1990s, the technology has caught on in coffee shops, college campuses and airports.

The Hyatt properties is the latest of T-Mobile's high-visibility hot spots. It also has provided hot spots in Starbucks coffee shops, Borders Books, Kinko's, and a number of airline clubs in airports. The company boasts of 4,600 existing hot spot locations.

While a number of lower-priced hotel chains are starting to offer free wireless access, T-Mobile charges for access to its system.